Destiny
by BrokenHearts159
Summary: This goes back to when Michael Westen was Michael McBride in Ireland. Continues throughout the seasons. Dawnna taking Fiona's place but Fiona's still the bomb expert of course. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!
1. Chapter 1

I sprang out of my hiding spot. Halfway across the black stone, Cordelia froze. The stone felt rough and hot under my paws as I raced to tackle the thief. I was too fast for Cordelia to react; crashing into her, I swept her paws from under her belly and raked my claws along her flank. Just before I sprang at Cholo, I had time to be impressed that the overfed male could move so neatly. I landed on Cholo's back; the dark male screeched and collapsed to the ground underneath me. I jumped clear as he flopped sideways, trying to crush me. The weight of his body as well as all that trash tasting fur would have squashed the breath out of me. Behind me, I heard Cordelia scramble to her paws. Her breath came in jagged gasps as she snarled, "Dawn! What are you doing?" I took a step from Cholo and flicked my tail from side to side. "What in the name of God Ares are you doing here?" I took a deep breath, letting my anger root me to the ground through my claws. Losing my temper would be a sign of weakness and right now, I was in control. This was an ambush, not a war.

"I came here to take back what was mine." I nodded my head to the sapphire necklace behind Cholo.

"The necklace belongs with us." Cholo snapped.

"I had it first. You stole it from me." My words hissed through my clenched teeth.

"Guess you should have guarded it better."

"Guess I'll just have to steal it back." At once I felt myself toppling over, crashing down a rock, which sent a stab of agony along my ribs. Cordelia stood over me, her lips pulled back in a snarl. Letting out a quavering breath, I rolled over and pushed myself up. I charged at Cordelia and knocked her into the river beside the road. Cold water rushed up to enfold us in a noisy, bubbling grip. I threw back my head and took a gulp of air before thrusting down with my front paws as hard as I could. Beneath me, Cordelia struggled to get free, sending up another flood of tiny bubbles. I pricked my claws into her skin beneath her thin fur. I looked down and saw Cordelia's eyes beginning to close. Her body hung heavily in my claws and the bubbles were petering out. In horror, I unhooked my claws and stepped back. Cordelia's body twitched in the current as she sank to the bottom. I grabbed the loose skin at the top of Cordelia's tail and hauled her onto the road. The shifter lay still for a moment while I rubbed her chest. Suddenly Cordelia bucked under my paws and coughed up a stream of sticky water. She rolled onto her belly and coughed again. I back up and walked past Cholo to the necklace. "Next time, Cordelia, I won't let you up." I picked the necklace up in my mouth and headed back home.

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"Where the bloody hell have you been?" My brother, Drake, asked when I walked into the house.

"Don't it look beautiful?" I asked, touching my hand to the sapphire necklace on my neck.

"Didn't Cordelia steal that?" Fiona asked.

"Who stole it from me. I just stole it back."

"Dawnna, we told you not to go looking for mayhem. You already have a warrant over you bloody head."

"Relax, Fi, I won the fight. Now, I just came to drop the necklace off, I got some gold watches to steal from some mean ass shifters."

"No, Dawnna, you're going to get yourself hurt."

"Fi, I promise to God Hermes, this is for a good cause. The shifters stole the watches from Edward. I was going to return them. Maybe keep one. Or two."

"Do you know who these guys are?" Drake asked.

"Of course. They're new here in Ireland. And speaking of newbies, who the bloody hell is that?" I pointed the tall, white man at the kitchen table. He had dark black hair with green gray eyes. Absolutely stunning. His looks woke butterflies in my stomach. The man stood up and walked over to me, holding out his hand.

"The name is Michael McBride." He said in a thick Irish accent. I batted his hand away.

"Who's done with. Now time for the why."

"Your brother here said that you were some kind of thief. I say I'm a thief too. Though I'm getting kind of rusty, looking for a partner to back me up on jobs."

"Sorry, I work alone."

"I could take the warrant off your head."

"Don't bother." Drake growled. "She'll just get another one within the first bloody hour." I bit my lower lip and rocked back and forth on my heels.

"Tell you what." I said. "I'm planning on taking that Ruby collar from Elphaba Museum. You help me get, I might consider being your partner."

"Quite a risk stealing that with a warrant over your head." Michael said.

"I'm all about risks."


	2. Chapter 2

I stumbled as I landed on the pitted earthen floor and a shifter flung himself onto my back. I let myself keep falling until I was rolling sideways, sending the shifter right over me. I jumped to my paws and spun around to face the small, pale colored male; the name Emmett flashed through my mind. I waited for him to launch himself at me, then dodged away and flicked my front paw into his face. It was kind of like snatching candy from a baby—but with a much easier target. The Cullen gang are like great boulders compared with a swift flash of me! Emmett screeched and staggered back, bleeding from his nose. I bit his flank so hard that he left a clump of fur in my teeth as he wrenched himself free and fled.

"You fight well." I turned to see Michael before looking back to where Emmett had fled.

"The Cullen gang may be big but they're cowards." I sat back on my haunches and began to lick the cuts on my sides.

"Are there more shifters here?"

"Tons. No other city has more shifters than Dublin does."

"About the robbery,"

"Yes, we go in Friday night."

"Wouldn't it be best to go in on a day they're closed?" I gave a light chuckle as I lifted my right hind paw to scratch behind my right ear.

"There's a banquet Friday night."

"Which means there will be more guards."

"True, McBride, but the guards will be worried about other things."

"Why not the collar?"

"Because on events like this the collar is placed in a vault down a long hallway inside a room. Only one guard stands in front of that door."

"How do you plan on getting into the safe without bringing in tools?" I gave another chuckle as I scratched behind my left ear.

"Worry about getting us in, McBride, I'll worry about the safe."

"Do you have your own gang?"

"Like I said, McBride, I work alone. You're lucky to be working with me."

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Monday Night

Leaping into the air, I threw myself at Esme and tried to push her over. I battered at the shifter's head and shoulders, tearing out huge clumps of fur. But the red haze of fury that filled my head made me clumsy, unfocused. My blows landed at random, barely scratching Esme's skin. The huge shifter went limp, letting herself drop to one side and hooking one paw around my leg to unbalance me. I landed among the bracken with a jolt that drove the breath from my body. A heartbeat later I felt a huge paw clamp down on my shoulders, pinning me to the ground.

"You should really learn how to fight before you going picking a fight." Esme taunted me. Taking a deep breath, I heaved myself upward. Esme leaped back and crouched a yard away, her amber eyes burning.

"I'll show you who needs to learn how to fight." I panted. I forced my anger down, summoning a cold determination—all the fighting moves I had ever learned were at the tips of my claws. When Esme sprang at me, I was prepared; I dived forward and hurled myself underneath my opponent's belly. As soon as Esme's paws hit the ground, I whipped around and landed a couple blows on the bitch's hindquarters before leaping out of range. Esme spun to face me.

"Better," She barked, mockery still in her voice. "Now let's see if you can win." Before I could reply, the huge bitch darted toward me, veering aside at the last moment and lashing out with one forepaw as she passed. I felt Esme's claws rake along my side, and blood begin trickling out of the scratches. Fear stabbed at me. _Why was I losing? I never lose. _My mind cleared. Esme was hurtling toward me again. I scrambled aside; I aimed a blow but felt my claws slide harmlessly through the bitch's pelt. "Too slow." Esme spat. "You'll have to work harder." I knew that the bitch was trying to make me too angry too fight. _I won't listen! Concentrate, Dawnna, concentrate! Win this battle! _I sprang at Esme again, twisting in the air as I had been taught so long ago, and landed squarely on the massive bitch's broad shoulders. Digging in with my claws, I stretched forward and sank my teeth into Esme's neck. Esme tried the same trick of going limp and pulling me down with her but this time I was ready. I wriggled out from underneath the heavy body, battering with my hind paws at Esme's exposed stomach fur.

"I'm not falling for that trick twice!" I snarled. Esme struggled to get up, but blood was pouring from a gash in her belly; she stumbled down again, rolling onto his back. I planted one forepaw on Esme's chest and held the other against her neck. The bitch glared up at me; for a heartbeat, fear flashed into her blazing amber eyes.

"Do you really think you could kill me?" She growled. "You'll never do it."

"No," I stepped back and picked up the bag of watches. "I'm not a cold blooded killer like you are, Esme." I turned and stalked away, my pelt still bristling and all my sense alert in case Esme followed and leaped on me again. But there was no sound from the dark shifter and soon she was left behind among the endless trees.


	3. Chapter 3

Tuesday Night

My head pushed above the attacking dogs, as if I was trying to swim in a lake of fur. I drew in a breath of admiration as I recovered my paws, lashing out at my attackers. My legs were a blur of motion. My jaws seemed to be everywhere, snapping, and tearing. First one, then another of the attacking dogs reared back, until I stood alone once again, ruffled and panting but no injuries as far as I could tell. I snatched up the diamond earrings and leaped over the brick wall before any of the dogs could attack me again.

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I set the earrings on the table and pushed them towards Fiona.

"Here you go," I said. "Happy early Christmas."

"They're beautiful." Fiona awed. "Thank you."

"Thank you?" Drake questioned Fiona. "Thank you? Fiona, we're supposed to be telling her not to go causing mayhem, not awing the stuff she brings back." I swung around to face my older brother.

"I'm getting real sick of your attitude, Drake. You never thank me for anything." I snapped at him.

"Thank you?" Drake repeated. "All you do is fight and steal, Dawnna."

"Drake, I'm the reason why we have food. I'm the reason why we have a nice house. I'm the reason that we're one of the most richest people in Dublin. Don't you forget that." Drake opened his mouth only to close it when he realized that I was right. I turned to Michael. "Did you figure out a way to get us into the banquet?"

"Got us two invitations."

"Excellent, looks like I have a dress to _steal." _

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Wednesday Night

I walked out of the away from the store and scampered down an alleyway when something called out to me from behind.

"Hey, Mutt!" I sighed and shook the black skinny dress off my back. Before I could turn around and warn the dogs off, they converged on me. I hardly had time for a protesting screech before Faith was on me. She tried the balance and slash but I sprang backward and she missed, losing her balance and striking the ground so hard she staggered.

"Stupid mongrel!" I snarled. Claws raked down my back; I tried to spin around but another dog landed on top of me and I fell to the ground, the breath driven out of my body as the other dog pressed me down. I saw Feather's amber eyes four inches from my own.

"I'll teach you to steal from our owner's store!" She growled. I lashed out with my hind paws, battering at Feather's belly. She rolled away, catching my blow over the ear as she did so. Another dog replaced him, and yet another had teeth fixed in my tail. I could scarcely move. The vicious yowls and caterwauls were so loud they hurt my ears. _I'm fighting for my life! _I gathered up all my strength and leapt out of the center of the dogs and panted for breath.

"Keep it. I don't need it." I lied before turning around and limping home. _First battle I lost in a long time. What's happening to you, Dawnna? _

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Thursday Night

I stared in terror as two shifters—Fire and Fiyero—streaked from the gloom, heading straight for me. Their eyes gleamed with hunger for blood. My paws were frozen. Then I was tumbling to the ground while claws raked my side like fire in my flesh. _Remember your training! Fight, Dawnna! Don't give up! _Anger shot through my like lighting and I leaped to my paws, and lashed out at my attackers. I caught Fire across the muzzle and felt his blood spatter my fur. I swiped again at Fire. Fire leaped for me, sending me staggering back with a heavy blow to my cheek. My paws skidded on the stone path, and I fell. The shifter's eyes flashed with triumph as he dropped on me, lips drawn back in a snarl. Blood roared in my ears as I fought back panic. I twisted just in time to avoid the shifter's sharp teeth, and pushed out with my hind legs. _Yes! Keep it up, Dawnna! _I'd caught him in the belly and sent him lurching backward. Leaping onto my paws, I ducked forward and sank my teeth into his hind leg. I lunged again, tasting blood as I sank my teeth into his other hind leg. The shifter yowled in agony and streaked away into the shadows. Fiyero followed behind him. _That's right, slink away like pussy cats. Teach you not to mess with me. _


	4. Chapter 4

Friday Morning

I stood in front of the Irish Sea and let the water lick my toes as I stared at the rising sun in the horizon. The sky was a baby blue with pink and purple streaks scratching it. A car sounded behind and I turned to see Michael get out and walk to me. I turned back to the bright orange circle.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"Your brother said you would be here." Michael said, stepping up to my left side. "Said that you liked to watch the sunrise." It was quiet for a moment.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

"It is." We stood in silence as we watched the sunrise. The presence of Michael being next to me was comforting, relaxing. I hope he would stay in town. I would love to get to know him. Have a chance to get close to him. Maybe build a relationship with each other. I hope, I hope, I hope. "Come on, we have a dress to by."

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Friday Night

We walked into the museum and immediately blended in. Men and women danced around in the center while other crowded around the food tables, stuffing their faces. I had my arm hooked in the crook of Michael's left arm. He wore a black tux while I wore a long, black skinny dress with five inch black heels. My lips were red with lipstick, my blonde hair up in neat bun. Michael turned to me.

"May I have this dance?" He asked. I gave him my hand and Michael pulled me into the center of the floor. He placed his left hand on my hip and gripped my other hand in his. I set my hand on his shoulder as we began to sway gently to the music.

"There." I said as I found the hallway with a guard standing in front of a room at the end. Michael guided us gently to the edge of the dancers so I could get a better view.

"How do you plan on getting us in?" Michael asked. I thought about the question for a moment. Gee, how was I going to get us in? I didn't think this part out.

"Follow my lead," I whispered as I broke apart from Michael and headed to the hallway. I let out a moan and gripped my head and began to sway unsteadily in my heels.

"Ma'am, you can't be in this hallway." The guard said, taking a step towards me.

"Oh, Darling, I don't feel so good." I moaned, ignoring the guard.

"Sweetheart, what is it?" Michael played along, coming up behind me and gripping my hips.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take her somewhere else." The guard said.

"Oh, Darling, I think it was the shrimp I had. I'm feeling awfully hot, Darling." I buckled my knees and fell to the ground. Michael caught me and lifted me up. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, pretending that I passed out.

"Sir, is there somewhere I can set her down?" Michael asked.

"No, Sir, there isn't and I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Please, Sir, my wife just has trouble dealing with shellfish. She only needs a moment rest to come to. Please, Sir." It was quiet for a moment before the guard responded.

"Fine, you can use this room." Michael carried me down the hallway and entered the room. He set me down on a couch.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Five minutes then you're out." The guard said as he shut the door. I opened my eyes and sat up.

"Where's this vault that you were talking about?" Michael asked me.

"Behind this painting over here." I climbed up onto the chair and took down a painting of an Irish Greyhound. I handed it to Michael and he set it quietly on the ground. I looked at the metal vault. I rubbed my hands together and placed my right hand on the door. My hand went completely through and I moved my fingers around to locate the necklace. I gripped it and pulled it through. I tossed it to Michael and he handed me the painting that I hung up again. I jumped down from the chair and took the necklace from Michael.

"Now, how do we get out of here?"

"Fire escape, of course, silly." I smiled. I went over to the window and opened. I climbed out and Michael climbed out behind me and closed the window. We descended the steps and I got began to walk out of the ally. A gun cocked behind me. I froze and slowly turned around to see Michael pointing a gun to my head. "McBride, what the bloody hell are you doing?"

"My name isn't McBride." Michael said, surprisingly, in an American accent. "My name is Michael Westen and I am a spy. I was sent here to arrest you but you being a shifter and all, you have to be caught in a crime in order to be arrested."

"You played me?" I growled him. "You played me!" Fury erupted inside me.

"I'm really sorry, Dawn," Michael said. "I have to do my job. I'm going to have to ask you to slide the necklace over to me." I glared at him as I slid it across the ground to him. He picked it up and stuffed it into his pocket. He tossed a zip tie to me. I picked it up, made a loop, placed my hands in and used my teeth to tighten it. "I really am sorry, Dawn." Fury turned to sadness inside me.


	5. Chapter 5

Two years later

It's been two years since I was arrested by American spy, Michael Westen. Two years, since he let me go. Two years since he kissed me and told me that he loved me. One year since we met up in Germany and we had a couple fights. Though I could tell we loved each other. Spent some time with each other. I mean a lot of time. I was now in America. Miami, Florida. Nice place. Better than Dublin. My brother stayed behind but Fiona joined me. She wasn't biologically my sister, but she always acted like she was my sister considering that her sister got killed. I sat in a motel room and stared at Michael's sleeping body on the bed as I rummaged his wallet. He's been out for hours. He's shirt was off and there were bruises lining all over his body. I was starting to get impatient. I kicked Michael in the butt and he woke up with a groan.

"Oh, no." He moaned.

"You're a lucky man." I said. "That many bruises anyone would think you fell under a truck. Michael sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Dawnna, what are you doin'?"

"You've been out for a couple of days. The maid got curious, went through your stuff." I put his driver's license back into his wallet. "You still have me in your wallet as your emergency contact. You take that out when you leave someone, you know."

"Flattered you came."

"Don't be. I needed to get away from Fiona for a while. Her bossiness is getting to me." I got up and went to the window. "We moved here. Me and Fiona. We wanted to try something sunny." Michael groaned as he sat up. "And it sounded like you might die." I walked to the other side of the room and sat down on the second bed. "I-I wanted to be there at the end. . . to tell you what a bastard you were.

"Sunny. Where am I?" His eyes squinted together as he looked out the window.

"Miami. Apparently you collapsed on the flight out of Nigeria."

"Miami. Why am I here?"

"The airline would only say they were instructed to fly you here."

"Instructed. What does that mean?"

"It's—It's home, in a manner of speaking, isn't it?" I gasped as a thought came to mind. "Oh! I called your mom.

"My mother?"

"Yeah, yeah. We had a lovely chat. She's thrilled you're home for Christmas."

"Home for—Uh, no. I'm not home. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna—I'm gonna go." He slowly stood up with another groan of pain.

"Leavin'?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Yeah. You're good at that." The thought of him leaving me in Germany crossed my mind.

"Yeah, it's just better if my mother and I aren't in the same hemisphere." He took a sip of water from the glass on the nightstand. "Dawnna, someone put a burn notice out on me. I gotta take care of this now, or a few cracked ribs will be the least of my worries." Michael stared at something outside then I remembered.

"Surveillance. Two man team, F.B.I." Michael looked at me with a smile on his face.

"Dawn, why don't you go run an interference for me?" I looked at him like he was crazy. "Please, Dawn, come on. Make one of those scenes of yours, you know? Bite one of them. Set the other one on fire. Just do it in about ten minutes. I need to get cleaned up." He scurried off to the bathroom.

"You'll owe me dinner." The sink faucet turned on.

"Fine." I smiled at that.

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I sat across from Michael and began to eat my steak. He barely touched his food yet.

"So, Sam and I are gonna plant the bug tomorrow so we can listen in on Pyne." Michael said. "Dawn, I want to ask you something, um—" I looked at him while I waited for him to finish his sentence.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, I need someone to track him, provide a little tactical support."

"Sure. It'll be just like the old days." His green gray eyes burned into mine. "That sounds like fun."

"Glad you think so. I haven't worked so hard so little money since Afghanistan. Afghanistan." He took a sip of his sake. "But at least there my mother wasn't calling me thirty times a day. Thank you for giving her my number."

"You're welcome. Any thoughts as to why you're so unpopular? Why didn't they just kill ya?"

"I might be a lesson, a warning. Somebody wants to offer me a job, but they want me desperate before they make me an offer. It could be a lot of things. I don't know."

"Yeah. It'll be good for you to stay in one place for a while, resolve some issues."

"Why I-I traveled halfway across the world to get away from those, you know."

"My point exactly. Maybe if you stopped running, you could maintain a normal relationship."

"Listen, Dawn. There's a few things I'm good at. Tactical analysis, hand to hand combat and I'm a decent cook. But relationships—they're just not my thing. They never were."

"Well, now you're in Miami. Get yourself a twenty four year old with big fake tits."

"They bore me." We shared a long, hard look. "If it makes you feel any better, you were the closest. . . I ever got. It—It just wasn't close enough, I guess."

"Things could have worked out with us, Michael."

"You had a warrant on you, stealing things from every store in Dublin."

"A spy is just a criminal with a government paycheck. You're the one with two F.B.I agents watching you eat."

"Three—One." I turned to see a man in a suit pretending to talk to the girl next to him. "Two." There was another man across the bar who looked away when I spotted him. "Behind me at the bar." I looked over his shoulder to see a woman pretending not to look at us.

"Bravo. Should we shoot them?"

"I've got enough problems." He smiled at me.

"Oh, well. More sake then?" I picked up the sapphire bottle and began to pour into Michael's cup as I stared into his eyes.

"When. When, Dawn. When! When."

"What? What? What?"

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"I can't shag a man who works in the store that I steal from everyday." I busted through the gate to Michael's new apartment. I stumbled over my feet, drunk on sake. I turned around to face Michael who closed the gate behind him. "The end."

"He was rich, he was handsome, and you broke up with him." Michael said. I backed up to the staircase.

"He had tactical awareness." I attacked Michael's mouth with my lips. Feeling the softness sparked me to life. "He didn't know how to shoot." I pressed my lips against his again. "He didn't know how many exits were in a building." I pushed Michael up against the railing of the staircase. "Oh, God! You spoiled me, Mi—Michael." I stammered over my words.

"I thought it was my winning smile." I plunged my tongue into his mouth again and he started to kiss until a gun cocked behind me.

"Don't move." A man's voice said. Michael looked over my head at the intruder. "Sugar wants you out." Michael looked down at me and I stared up at him.

"She has nothing to do with this." Michael said.

"Shut up." The man ordered.

"He's right." I said. "Michael, shut up." I turned around and pressed my back up against Michael. The man was a good six foot tall guy. Muscular, about two hundred pounds. "I can handle myself." The man looked down and smiled. I laughed. I grabbed the wrist that held the gun and pushed it away from me and slammed my head into his nose. I kicked him in the legs and he fell to the ground. I took the gun from him and slammed the butt of the gun in the side of his face and knocked him out. I turned back to Michael. "You really ought to do something about your neighbors." I handed the gun to Michael and he cautiously took it from me.

"I know, I know." Michael said. I began to ascend the steps to Michael's place, hoping to have a little fun with him tonight.

"That was fun."

"Yeah."

"Shall we?"

"Yo, Dawn, Dawn." I stopped. "Violence is foreplay for you but it's not for me. I gotta take care of this then I gotta go to bed." I backed off the steps.

"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow." I walked to the gate.

"Dawn, you know, I could—" I slammed the gate behind me with out waiting for him to finish his sentence.


	6. Chapter 6

I was sprawled out on my stomach on Michael's bed, reading a label on a beer bottle when Michael came in.

"Hello, Michael." I greeted him in an American accent. My voice sounded strange without my birth accent but I'm in America now. Time to change.

"Dawn, you're. . . here." Michael said reluctantly, walking towards me, leaving the door open.

"I came by for a visit. The door was locked. I broke in."

"New accent. New. . . style."

"Well, I'm in Miami now. Time to make a change. This is the new, Michael. For now."

"So you're staying in town. Where's Fiona?"

"Oh, we bought an apartment on the other side of town. Dirty old place really. She's there cleaning it up now."

"That's great. Listen, Dawn." Someone peered in the doorway and I looked past Michael to see Samson Axe. Oooo, that boy had a death wish showing his face here. "Now is not a really good time for you to—"

"Jesus, Mike." Sam said. "You didn't tell me see was going to be here." I stood and began to run at Sam, fury building up inside of me.

"You cost me a lot of money, you son of a bitch!" I yelled. Michael wrapped his arms around me to hold me back as he stood in between me and Sam. I pushed Michael away from me and held up a finger to warn him to back off. "I've been waiting to talk to you for a long time!"

"I cost you? Ok. For starters, what you're talking about never officially happened, all right?" Michael looked from me to Sam and back again. "But unofficially, even if it had, you deserved a hell of a lot worse than what you got, lady." I walked back over to Michael's nightstand and picked up the beer bottle.

"Sam." Michael tried to warn his best friend off. I walked back over and Michael ducked out of my way as I threw the beer bottle at Sam as he climbed to the steps to the second floor of the loft. It missed and hit the railing and shattered.

"That was a legitimate purchase!" I yelled at Sam as he turned back around to face me. "The U.S government had no business—"I tried to run back towards Sam but once again, Michael pushed me back.

"Yeah? Legitimate?" Sam questioned me. "A Libyan arms dealer? How do you figure that?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Michael interrupted our argument. He turned to me. "Dawn, I'm thrilled that you've come by. But Sam and I need to talk about a job. So you—"

"Job?" I questioned him. "Hmm." I sat back down on the bed. "Sounds like fun. I'm in." I shot a condescending look at Sam. Michael turned to Sam.

"Yeah." Sam laughed and made his way back up the steps. Michael turned back to me and gave me a look that pretty much said _Did you have to do that? _I just smiled at him.

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Sam pulled up to the ocean and turned off the car.

"Get on the boat, plant the bugs, get out quick." Michael handed a black bag to me but I pushed it away. "What?"

"Yeah, well, being here for only three months and I already have enemies. I got fight to deal with in about an hour so I gotta run. But Fi can plant the bugs, can't you, Fi?" I looked at her and she sighed and took the bag from Michael.

"You better not be turning Miami into Dublin, Dawnna."

"Oh, relax, Fiona, I'm done stealing."

"Yep, gotcha." Sam said. I picked up a crowbar from the floor. "Ok, what's that for?"

"I could think of something." I said.

"It's for the lock if you have trouble, Sam." Michael said.

"Mike, give some credit." Sam pleaded. "I mean, I can handle a lock." I handed the crowbar to Fiona.

"Quentin had a Colt .45 with extended controls and a beveled mag well. He's serious. Be careful, Sam."

"Gotcha."

"Well, I was going to ask Dawn to fix Quentin's car so we can disable it if anything goes wrong but you apparently have other things to deal with."

"Think you can handle that?" I asked Fiona.

"I'm not going to answer that." Fiona said.

"I'm off to make new friends." Michael got out of the car and walked away.

"Have fun, you two." I hopped out of the car in dog form and raced off the other side of town.

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The short tailed brown bitch didn't have time to let out a howl before she was knocked to the ground. I used the bitch's face to push off with my hind paws as I launched myself to the next dog. I tore past and sank my outstretched front claws into another shifter. I tackled the brown bitch as he tried to struggle to his feet. The dogs at the head of the line came racing back, teeth bared and hackles raised. There was no time to think about battle moves, about balancing my weight evenly on my hind paws and landing each blow perfectly. Instead, I spin and slashed and snarled until the buildings blurred around me. Delicate ear skin caught under one of my claws; with a wrench, I ripped my paw clear and felt a thin spray of blood land on my muzzle. I sprang behind the nearest cover. Out in the open, the dogs began to talk.

"Did we beat her?" That was the short tailed bitch, who was bleeding heavily from one ear. The white dog with black paws who had led the group looked around. I realized that it was Gale, the one who ordered this fight.

"We must have." Gale growled. "Pussycat. She can't even finish a fight."

"Should we leave?" asked a red furred male. His eyes gleamed and he seemed the least daunted by the attack out of all of them.

"In a moment, Garth." Gale said. "We'll let Glinda get her breath back first." Turning with difficulty in a crowded space, I pushed my way out of the dumpster and trotted to the other side of the clearing without being noticed. My head was still ringing from the last skirmish, and my legs felt trembly from the race to the other side.

"Where did she come from?" Panted Glinda, ducking out of the way of my flailing front paws.

"Keep an eye behind you," warned Gale through clenched teeth. "In case she tries to sneak up on us again." Dodging a swipe from Garth, who had come to rescue the brown bitch, I leaped sideways. I snapped at his paws and the group ran off, leaving a trail of scarlet dots in the sand.

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I sat across from Michael and Fiona sat across from Sam as we sipped our beers and Sam told us about how it went on the boat.

"And eventually, we get outta there." Sam finished his story. "I mean, anyway, it's all good. It was just little painful in the end." Sam threw a look at Fiona. "Of course, it wouldn't have been a problem I didn't have someone second guessing me and slowing the whole thing down. Michael and I looked at Fiona.

"It was fine, Michael." Fiona said. "Next time I'll check my phone." I gave Michael's leg a gentle tap with my foot and he looked at me.

"How'd it go?" I asked. "Is Quentin your new best buddy?"

"Hardly." Michael answered. "I've cracked ex-K.G.B officers easier than this guy. We're gonna have to push these guys, drive his little team apart."

"Old school. You know I like that." Sam said. "You want the full on disinformation campaign?"

"No, keep it small—just enough to nudge him in my direction."

"Can do." Sam said. "Who wants another beer?"

"Me." I said.

"I can't. I have to go get paint for the apartment." Fiona said, getting up and walking away. Sam got up and went to get me another beer.

"Dawn?" Michael called to me.

"Yes?" I answered.

"I need a favor. I need some information from my mom. She's not going to talk unless we go—"

"We go to dinner." He looked at me with a confused look on his face. "I talked to her yesterday." Michael just smiled and nodded his head gently.

"You talked to her. Of course you did."

"And I accepted. Bringing a vegetable." I tapped Michael's cheek gently with my fist. "Can't wait." Michael gave a nervous chuckle.

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Michael sighed as we walked up the walkway to his mom's house.

"Dawn," Michael said. "Just do me a favor. Just go. . . easy tonight." Michael's mom, Maddie, opened that door for us and laughed when she saw me.

"Oh, it is such a pleasure to finally meet you." I said, stepping forward and letting Maddie kiss both my cheeks.

"Oh, welcome." Maddie greet me. "Please come in." She ushered me in with Michael behind me. "Uh, this is my friend, Laura." I turned to see an old lady with dark brown hair and an arm in a cast in the sun room. She stood up when she saw us. "She just came by to say hi, see how things were going."

"Madeline said she was sure you could take care of it." Laura told Michael. Michael just stared at her with a smile on his handsome face, not knowing what to say.

"What don't I take that?" Maddie took my dish from me and carried it into the kitchen.

"Everything's going to be fine." I told Laura. "He used to be a secret agent."

"Well." Laura murmured as Michael walked to the dining room table and sat down. "I-I don't want to intrude on your supper. I brought a peach cobbler for dessert."

"Yum."

"So, are you two getting married?" Oooo, this is a fun question. A fun time to warp with Michael's head. Gosh, I loved playing games with him.

"We're thinking about. I'd like to be a July bride." I threw a shy glance at Michael and saw him glaring at me.

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"Mmmm," I moaned as I finished the last of my dinner. "That was delicious."

"Thank you." Maddie laughed. "So, um, Dawnna, do you—do you live in Miami now?"

"Well, we'll see. I like it here."

"Do you have a job?"

"I'm in between jobs—a bit like Michael."

"I'll get—I'll get the dishes." I stood up and began to gather the plates up.

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"Fiona, you were supposed to stop the car, not blow it into the Everglades." I scolded her as we joined up in Michael's apartment. "What happened to shortening the ignition?"

"You said disable. It's not going anywhere." Fiona protested.

"You know what I meant."

"I almost had him." Michael said. "I was this close. The F.B.I is back, I see. I'm under surveillance again. Sam, I thought you were suppose to handle that."

"Mike, there's only so much I can do." Sam said. "I gotta tell the suits why we're down at the marina to keep them off our back, but if somebody starts blowing up cars down at the marina—"

"Remind me why you're friends with someone who put the F.B.I back on you?" Fiona asked.

"That's not fair." Sam said.

"Sam, what about Quentin?" Michael asked. "You were suppose to nudge him, not send him into a homicidal frenzy."

"Look, you guys were off doing your thing, so I signed up Greg and Bonnie to this Medallion Airways executive service to the Cayman Islands, you know, as part as the set up."

"Yeah?"

"Well, they got this new thing where they overnight a bottle of champagne to the new members. Quentin started sniffing around, and in less than an hour, he found everything that I did. It was a bunch of little stuff but he put it all together."

"Turn him around." I said. "Make him trust you."

"He's not in a trusting mood, Dawn." Michael said wearily. I sighed.

"I know you're angry, Michael. But I know that an exploding car can throw a man off balance. Isn't that right, Fiona?"

"Absolutely." She answered. I took a yogurt from the fridge and began eating it. "You'll thank me."

"He won't even talk to me." Michael said. "He won't even answer my calls."

"Well, you'll have to be extra charming."


	7. Chapter 7

I pulled up to the Gray Pool Hotel and looked in my rearview mirror at the two F.B.I agents.

"Looks like you F.B.I tail found us." I told Michael. "Should we call this off?" He looked behind him and sighed when he saw that I was right.

"No." He answered. "Keep the engine running. I'll try to make this quick." I reached for my gun in the holster on my leg. "Dawn, this is not an armored assault."

"You think they're just gonna give you covert operatives coming to this conference meeting?"

"All I need is a name, somebody in Miami who can get me the Homeland Security directive that burned me. One name. I don't need a gun for that." He got out of the car.

"You're no fun, Michael." He slammed the door and walked to the hotel and I slouched in my seat. I looked in my rearview mirror again to see the agents get out of their car and started to walk towards me. _Uh-oh, time to go. Sorry, Michael. _I drove off and ditched the car before I headed to Michael's place.

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"I just walked two miles with a twisted ankle." Michael said, coming through the front door of his apartment as I laid on my stomach on his bed. "What happened to keep the car running?"

"The _stolen _car, Michael." I said, turning on to my back to watch him limp to the fridge for some ice. "Your feds were getting curious. I had a gun in the car. Our little mission was in danger of being compromised, I returned to base."

"And broke in again."

"I think our post operation debriefing has taught us that you need a car and I need a key to your apartment." I sat up at the edge of the bed while he sat down in a chair and threw his foot up on to the table to ice it. He groaned in pain when he leaned forward, he's ribs obviously still hurting him. I sighed and got up and took the ice pack from him. I drew the coldness into my fingertips and my fingers became little icicles. I set the ice bag down and began to massage Michael's ankle. He let out a hiss of pain and I rubbed more gently.

"A key? Aren't you more comfortable breaking in?"

"What is your problem with me having a key, Michael?"

"I don't want anyone to have a key. It's a security issue."

"Right. And what about your problem with a car ownership? Or would you like to continue taking urine scented transportation cause you think that's more secure?"

"I don't know where to even get a car. My assets are frozen." I touched my fingertips back to the ice bag and returned to massaging Michael's ankle. "I don't even have a driver's license."

"I spoke to your mom. Apparently, you do have a car. Your father's charger."

"Not interested. What are you doing talking to my mom?"

"I got to have someone to talk to, Michael. Fiona's becoming distant with me. She got herself a boyfriend already. He's name's Campbell. He's kind of—whoa, getting off topic. Anyway, you know what I think? I think a car is a commitment. You're afraid to be tied down." He just sighed and threw his head back.

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I sat on the couch next to Cara and her daughter, Sophie, watching a cooking show. Apparently, someone's been threatening her, she's scared, won't go to work, won't leave the house so Michael's trying to help. Right now, I was on babysitting duty. Boring.

"Oo, too much cumin." Cara said.

"You cook?" I asked.

"Used to. I was in chef school when I got pregnant but I was failing out. I was 19—a mess. And then Sophie came along. She saved my life."

"That's going to go into the mix." The woman on the TV said as my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw Michael. I answered it.

"Hello?" I answered. "How did it go?"

"Desantos has a hit squad on the way. I'll be there in five minutes. Don't do anything without me. I don't want you getting hurt."

"No worries and it's sweet that you care about my safety, Michael." I hung up. Unbelievable. The guy didn't think that I could handle this. I may not be good in hand to hand combat, like Michael, or have military experience, like Sam, or knowledge on weapons, like Fiona, but I still have shifter powers. A little. Some times they like working with me. I stood up and faced Cara and Sophie. "I need you to go in the bathroom, get in the tub and stay down."

"What?" Sophie questioned me.

"Come on, be a sweetie before someone starts shooting." They got up and went to the bathroom. I went out onto the balcony and held out my hand palm up. I willed for flames in my hand but they never came. I concentrated and focused on the heat, the licking flames, the burning sensation every little detail about fire but it never came. Damn it! Ok, plan B. What was plan B? Liquor! Me being around Fiona all my life, I kind of picked up a thing or two from her. I went into the kitchen and grabbed bottles of liquor from the cupboard. I grabbed two rags from the kitchen and drowned in alcohol. I stuffed half of the rag into the bottles and went back out onto the balcony where I lit the rag on fire. Using a lighter made me feel stupid. I had the power of fire and I can't even use it. I looked up and down the street but didn't see Michael anywhere. What I did see was two cars driving over the speed limit towards Cara's house. They stopped in front. I tossed the bottles out onto the street and the cars drove away when the street went up into flames.

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"How many were there?" Fiona asked.

"I don't know. Four, maybe. They all took off after cocktail hour." I smiled at my little joke.

"Dawn, it looks like Fallujah down there." Michael said, looking out the window.

"I was half-hoping they'd stick around a bit. To prove that I know how to take care of myself, Michael."

"Yeah, that's why Drake and I were always saving your ass when you got into trouble." Fiona said.

"I never needed your help for fights though."

"Michael." Cara came into the room.

"You ok?" Michael asked.

"Can't we just tell them that I won't testify? I don't care."

"Once they send guys to kill you, they're past _I promise I won't tell _stage." Sam said.

"They're gonna come looking." Fiona said. Michael sighed.

"I know a place." Michael said.

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"How'd it go?" I asked Michael."Gellman gonna talk to Colombia, make our lives easier?"

"Hope so." Michael said. "Those two can only stay in my mom's garage for so long."

"And if he doesn't go for it?"

"Then our lives aren't so easy." I looked across the street with a pair of binocular. I saw a bald man head back to a black car.

"There's your man." I handed the binoculars to Michael.

"Whoa, been a while. He's lost a little—a lot of hair." I took the binoculars from him.

"I tail him for you. He's renting a nice Mercedes. Spends a lot of time in restaurants. He lives pretty well for a spy."

"Hands out bribes mostly—bid rigging, industrial espionage. I need you to keep watching him. Let me know when's the best time to get next to him." He began to walk away from me but I gripped a tree branch, blocking his path.

"What then?"

"What then? Then I'll find out who's behind this burn—"

"Cause I'm just curious about your plans. I suppose if you get this resolved then you'll leave Miami."

"Dawn, can we talk about this later?" He didn't wait for an answer. He left and I sighed.

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"Perimeter's clear." I said coming into Maddie's garage where Michael was talking to Sophie and Cara. "Sam's out front keeping a lookout." I put my gun in my holster.

"Can't you do something?" Sophie asked me. "Didn't you say that you were better at tactical whatever than he is?" Michael looked at me.

"Well, no, I just said that I have powers that he doesn't have. It's a shifter thing."

"Well, can't you use your powers to put a stop to this?"

"I can't, sometimes I can control my powers, sometimes I can't. Sometimes my powers will work with me, sometimes they won't. One moment, snap my fingers and I can light a cigarette. The next, I could blow the entire city of Miami up."

"I'm sure Dawn would be happy to take on the cartel with a lighter and whatever's in the liquor cabinet, but trust me, it's not an option. You have to go now." Michael said.

"Michael, we don't even have our things." Cara said.

"No, they'll have people watching your house."

"But I need my phone, it has all my friend's numbers." Sophie said.

"Maybe I'm not being clear." Michael said a gentle voice. "You will leave Miami. You will not contact anyone. You will start over. They want Cara and Sophie Stagner dead. It is our job to turn Sophie and Cara Stagner into ghosts." Sophie went to go sit on the bed. Michael looked at me and cocked his head towards Sophie. I rolled my eyes, sighed and went over to Sophie.

"I know how you feel." I said. "Normally, I would agree with you. Michael would change his identity and disappear to get out of a parking ticket. But in this case, he's right. It's for the best."

"Ok, so where do we go?" Cara asked.

"I need you to write up a list—places you have family, vacation spots, anywhere you've been in the last ten years." Michael ordered. "You can go anywhere that's not on that list."

"Won't they just follow us?"

"Trust me, they won't even know where you're heading. Dawn, we have to get over to Cara's apartment now."

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I walked across the street and headed up to Cara's apartment. I picked the lock and closed the door behind me. I hooked my Bluetooth onto my ear and called Michael.

"I'm in Cara's apartment." I said. "They see me?"

"Yeah, hurry up, Dawn." Michael said. I walked over to the computer and sat down.

"Michael, you worried about me? That is sweet. Sometimes I feel like you're more romantic than you realize." I typed Cara's old address into the computer.

"Dawn, there are guys with guns outside."

"It's not that bad. Last week I was hauling in some dodgy meth dealer. Nasty little shifter he was." I typed in Cara's _new _address.

"I don't want to hear about your other jobs, ok? If I knew you would take this long, I would have done it myself."

"Don't be silly you're on their hit list."

"Just hurry."

"Actually, I was thinking that now would be a good time to talk about getting a key to your place."

"Dawnna, please."

"What? I'm just saying it's practical. I'm not talking about moving in. I could come over anytime and we could—"

"Ok, here they come. Get out of there now."

"So, what do you think? Key?"

"Two more coming in and Desantos."

"I want an answer." I typed up a plane ticket for Salt Lake City for Cara and Sophie and printed it.

"Dawn, just go to the back door and get out of there now."

"Yes or no?"

"Fine! Just get out of there." I heard the lock on the front door jingle. "Dawn! Dawnna, get out of there!" The front door opened and I made my way out the back door. "Goddamn it, Dawn, get out of there!" I walked down the back steps.

"As far as Desantos and the Columbians are concerned, the Stagners are off to Salt Lake City. You know, Michael, if I'm going to be there more, you should really ought to get some proper furniture."

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"Shame. . . let them have all the fun." I said as Michael and I watched Michael's spy buddy stuff Desantos into the trunk of a car.

"I'm just glad it's done." Michael said. I turned around to face and pressed my back up against the pillar.

"Do I get to have my key now?" He held up a silver key and I tried take it from him but he held on tight. I yanked it out of his hand and he smiled and turned and began to walk away from me. I hooked the key to my collar and leapt forward shifting into my dog form, the key and the tags on my collar clicking together in harmony. I ran to catch up with Michael and nipped playfully at his feet before giving him a toothy smile and racing down the alley.


	8. Chapter 8

"Any idea on why your friend Jan wants you dead?" I questioned Michael as I glared out the window at the F.B.I agent. Michael was putting a booby trap on his door. Shotgun. Anyone that comes in uninvited get's their head blown off.

"Probably payback for a job I did." Michael muttered his answer. "No coincidence a Czech wet work guy is on me after I get burned. I need to find out what he knows about my situation."

"Talk to Sam. He's the cold warrior with the direct line to the F.B.I." Michael finished up and made his way to the fridge for some yogurt.

"Somebody's gotta feed the feds something. Might as well be Sam. You know, I just can't risk the feds picking up Jan before I get a chance to talk to him. Michael's phone rang and he answered it. "Hi, Mom. Well, I'm really busy right now so call a plumber. No, do not put your hand down the disposal. I'm coming over right now." He hung up. The door to the loft opened and Sam jumped back as soon as he saw the shotgun and just before the door pulled against the trigger.

"A few minutes later—oh, well."

"Mike, what the hell's going on?" Sam asked, slithering past the shotgun and closing the door behind him. "You got shotguns, you're picking fights for no reason." Sam said.

"Dwayne Wade is overrated." Michael said.

"Fine. Lie to me. But next time you go Chuck Norris on some guy, don't do it in one of my favorite bars."

"The sand bar?"

"They got dollar well drinks. DirecTV's N.F.L. Sunday Ticket in HD. And did you see the t-shirts those girls were wearing?" Sam grabbed a beer from Michael's fridge. "And now I can't go back there. That hurts. So what's the deal?"

"The charger's busted. You're driving me over to my mom's." Michael made his way to the front door and disabled the booby trap.

"I just got here." Michael was already out the door. Sam put his beer back and sighed and walked out of the loft, leaving me alone.

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"It was just luck. I caught him out of the corner of my eye." Michael said, telling me the story about the fight between Michael and his little brother, Nathan.

"Hey," Sam said, sitting to the right of me. "Where's Fiona?"

"Out with her boyfriend." I mumbled, playing sadly with my drink.

"You sound sad."

"Well, she's becoming very distant ever since she met Campbell. She used to be always at my side." I sighed and thought about it for a moment. "But I guess I should be happy for her. First boyfriend since Dublin. Anyway, what do you got, Sam?" I asked. Sam handed Michael an envelope.

"His cell phone was linked to a bogus address, so no luck there." Sam turned to a waiter. "Hermano! Dos mojitos, arroz con pollo and uno cerveza, por favor."

"Eating light?" I questioned him.

"Hey, tracking this guy down was hard work, let me tell ya. I had to hit up a buddy of mine in the Bureau for a favor."

"Wow, hitting up some paper pusher for some information, you must really work up an appetite."

"He knows that I'm not on their most favored nations list. He insisted on meeting in Q.T during his spin class. Does hell of a job on the acorns, let me tell you."

"Nice job." Michael praised Sam as he looked through the papers in the envelope. "The kid's popular.

"Yeah. I, um, called some of his buddies. Said I was his old pot dealer. Hangs out in a bar on South Beach. We can go there and look around."

"Every third guy in a bar will tell you he's a modeling scout." I said.

"Hey, I've used worse lines and succeeded."

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I walked behind Michael and Nate as we headed into the bar and up to the counter. Michael was about to say something to the bartender but Nate jumped in.

"Excuse me." Nate said to the bartender. "Gray Stripe. I heard this is where he hangs out. Is he around?"

"Maybe you heard wrong." Bartender said as he began to walk away. Nate grabbed the bartender's arm and pulled him back.

"I need to talk to Gray Stripe, ok?" Michael jumped in and saved the day.

"Jesus, Nate." Michael said. "Lay off." He turned to the bartender as Nate let go of his arm. "I take him out and he comes onto every guy who looks like he can bench 200. Down, boy." Nate started to look embarrassed. "Gregory House, Harry Potter Mercedes Benz. This kid Gray put a deposit down on a SL550. My salesman here wrote his number down wrong."

"Yeah, it's a beautiful car. Pewter exterior, burl walnut trim. It's nice. The thing is we got like twenty people lined up behind him."

"We don't want to give it away but we will if we have to. Can you help us out?" Michael slid a wad of cash to the bartender and he took it.

"Check the V.I.P room upstairs." The bartender said.

"Thank you kindly." We turned and began to walk to the steps.

"I was doing fine." Nate said to Michael.

"You were not doing fine. You looked like you were gonna slug the guy."

"I wasn't."

"You have no idea what you're doing."

"Why don't you boys wait outside and I'll go get Gray?" I said before Nate could say something to his older brother. Michael turned to me.

"Dawn, the moment he sees you have a shifter collar on, he's going to know there's something up." I reached behind my neck and unclipped my collar and shoved it into Michael's hand. My body felt utterly drained of energy when I took the collar off. "What if something goes wrong? You can barely lift a five pound weight without your collar."

"That hurts, Michael. True, I don't know hand to hand combat like you do. If something doesn't feel right, I'll talk my way out of the problem and come out to you."

"Are you sure, cause—" I softly touched his face.

"I'll be fine and believe me, Michael, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's to get a guy to leave the bar."

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I pushed Gray up against a tree and attacked his neck with my lips. His skin was rough and dry on my lips. It wasn't soft like Michael's.

"Oh damn, girl. You're fine." Gray moaned. I kissed his chest through his clothes before returning to his face.

"Where's you car?" I asked.

"Over there." We walked to his black car and I got into the passenger seat and he got into the driver's seat. Glass shattered behind the car and Michael got into the back seat with a half broken beer bottle.

"Wow, this is a really nice car." Michael said.

"Listen, Bro. I don't want trouble, man, all right? Take the car. I got about a hundred bucks in my wallet."

"We're looking for Heather Tail." I said.

"I don't know any Heater." Michael held up a picture of Heather and Gray kissing. Gray sighed knowing that he just got caught in the mouse trap. "That Heather."

"Mmm." Michael said.

"Heather's with the Boy brothers, ok? They're like an escort service. I recruit for them at the club sometimes."

"Why don't you un-recruit her for us."

"Man, they got guys with guns watching those girls around the clock."

"Guys with guns." I looked at Michael and he looked back at me. "Of course."

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I sat in a chair in the hotel watching the Czech assassin come in. I pulled out my phone and called Michael.

"Yeah, Dawn?" Michael answered.

"I know where assassin is staying." I sung. "After he got tired staking out your place, I tailed him to this hotel near the convention center. He's in room 147. Be careful. It was a little too easy for a guy this good." I hung up not waiting for Michael to say something.

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"Grabbing Heather shouldn't be that big of a deal." Sam said as I sipped my Bloody Mary. "In, out, couple of minutes."

"And run away?" I questioned him. I turned to Michael. "I say, we get Fiona to blow our way into the house, grab the girl, and take the Boy brothers out as bonus."

"Oh, yeah, that's great. Hey, let's storm a place with guys with semiautomatics, get shot up, get the target killed."

"Maybe you don't have the stomach." I looked back at Michael, hoping he would back me up. "Michael—"

"Dawn, the body count would be a little high. We know she's booked for a flight to Dubai." Michael said.

"I checked that out." Sam said. "There's two flights on Thursday, a ten AM direct and a two PM through Switzerland."

"We sit on the house, We take her when she goes to the airport. Fiona can stop the car, Dawn goes in, takes the front guy. Sam takes the back guy and I pull Heather out."

"I like it. Deal with the guys in the car and take the girl. Nice. I'll see you around. I'm going to go do some recon." Sam finished his beer and got up and left.

"Do you think I could convince your Czech assassin to switch targets? I mean, Sam is bigger, slower, easier to hit." I said to Michael.

"What about Jan's car?" Michael asked me, ignoring my question. "You check?"

"Yeah, he's carful. He runs a mirror under the engine before he unlocks it. Uses a remote to start the engine."

"What about the book? You check the bookstores?"

"All the local Resollis. No scary Czech buying sc-fi paperbacks on a regular basis. We won't be ambushing him there"

"He's been ordering food at the hotel. I checked the bill."

"Not room service. He stops by the kitchen to place his order. Oversees the cooking himself. Religious reasons. He wants to make sure the food is halal,"

"Halal? Nice cover story. Jan isn't Muslim. There's gota be another reason why he's spending so much time in the kitchen. Here's some cash. Spread it around the kitchen staff., see what we can find out. Oh, and here's your collar back."

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Sam and I sat in the dodge neon with Fiona a block ahead waiting for the car to come so we could take Heather. We were also waiting for Michael. No sign or word from him.

"Where the hell is Michael, off on one of your secret missions?" Sam asked. I had a small little flame on a fingertip, making it dance from one finger to the next and back again.

"Don't look at me." I mumbled, concentrating on the flame.

"This guy should be out pretty soon. Last flight to Dubai is in a couple hours." I bounced the flame into the palm of my hand, making it grow bigger.

"I'm ready." I smiled at the progress of controlling fire.

"Oh, no way."

"Look there's no way we're gonna do this without Mike. We don't have the manpower."

"We don't have a choice. I knew it. You have no backbone."

"Backbone? You remember how this is suppose to work? Fiona stops the car, you hold off the guy in the front, I take the guy in the back. Mike takes Heather. What's missing from this picture? The guy that takes Heather."

"So, I'll take Heather."

"Okay. Then who takes the guy in the front? Nobody. What happens then? People start shooting. We lose, we're dead. We win, we have three dead bodies, a traumatized girl and a spot on the F.B.I's most wanted list."

"I've been on plenty of those kind of lists. It's not so bad." My cell phone rang. I closed my palm, putting the flames out. I answered my phone. "Where the hell are you, Michael?"

"Forget the kidnapping." Michael said hastily. "Dawn, where are you?"

"I'm at the corner of Hermione Grove and Holly Lane. Michael, what's going on?"

"Dawn, I need you to get over to my place right now. Nate's trying to break in."

"The shotgun—"

"Exactly. I need—"

"Say no more, Michael. I'm on my way." I snapped my phone shut. "We need to go to the loft."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because Nate's about to get his head blown off if we don't." Sam nailed the gas pedal and drove to the loft. When we got there, without waiting for the car to come to a complete stop, I leapt out in dog form and raced through the gate. "Nate! Stop! Stop!" I ascended the steps three at a time and when Nate opened the door, I stepped forward and pushed him back and that was the last thing I remembered.

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"Is she going to be alright?" A voice sounded in the darkness. I head an angry voice but couldn't pick up the words. Pain slashed through the darkness like lightning and I bolted up and awake, wanting to escape the pain. I leaped off Michael's bed and landed on the floor, my right hind leg buckling under me. I yelped as I landed on it and stood back up, putting my weight on my left hind leg. I bared my teeth and let out a growl at whoever caused me pain.

"Easy, Dawn. It's just me. I'm just pulled the bullet from your leg." Michael's voice soothed me. I relaxed when my eyes registered to Michael, Nate, Fiona and Sam in Michael's loft.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Come here so I can wrap your leg up before you bled out on my floor." I climbed onto Michael's bed and laid down on my left side and he began to wrap my leg. Nate opened his mouth but I stopped him.

"I don't want an apologize, Nate, just be sure to listen to your big brother next time."

"Will do, Dawnna." Nate said.

"What happened with Heather?" I asked Sam and Fiona.

"After you two left, I did what I had to do. At the mention of cops, they turned around. Said that they would catch the flight tomorrow." Fiona said.

"Well, I better go deal with your cop problem." Sam told Michael and he left.

"I got a lunch date with Campbell. Chow." Fiona followed Sam out the door. Pain erupted in my leg. I leaned back and gave Michael's hand a quick, hard lick.

"Sorry." Michael mumbled. An image of men in Maddie's house flashed in my mind.

"Why were there men in Maddie's house?" I asked.

"Did you just read my mind?" Nate asked.

"Well, not exactly. I don't know. I don't have control over this yet. But never mind that, answer my question."

"I owe some guys some money."

"Who are these _guys_?"

"Shifters."

"Wow, you got yourself in a lion's cage."

"Yeah, I know."

"I can get them off your back."

"No, it's fine, Dawnna. I just need my half of the money that Michael is keeping from me."

"If I give you the money then you'll just go off and gamble it." Michael said.

"Seriously, Nate, a gang of shifters, no problem. Hell I took like five gangs of shifters a day back in Dublin. Where are they located?" Nate sighed.

"Over in Hulk Woods."

"Perfect, I'll go as soon as I get this situated." I rested my head on Michael's leg and closed my eyes.

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Fiona pulled the car out in front the cream colored car and Michael pulled the truck up behind it. I leaped out of the bushes, careful to land on my left hind leg. Sam came out on the other side of the road, a gun in hand. Michael got out of the car with a crowbar and went to smash the back driver's side window. One hit just put a dent in it, two hits just made a hole.

"Wow, this is really well made." Michael said as he pulled out a gun. "Open the door! Open the door!" Michael opened the door and pulled the younger Boy brother out. "Out! You piss me off." Fiona opened the trunk to the car and Michael shoved Boy towards it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy. You know who my brother is?" Boy questioned Michael.

"I know who he is and what he does."

"Get off me, man!" Boy shoved Michael's hand off him and turned around to face him. "You're making—" Michael hit Boy on the forehead with the butt of his gun and pushed him into the trunk of the car.

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The job was finally done. Michael traded the little brother for Heather and he took her home. Now it was time to keep the promise I made to Nate. I dosed myself with pain killers so I wouldn't feel the pain in my leg when I fought.

"What are you doing here?" A voice sounded behind me. I turned to see a gray dog with two others behind him emerge from the bushes.

"Ah, you must be Hutch." I said. "I'm here to tell you to clear out."

"Nate Westen send you?"

"You could say that."

"That guy owes me a lot of money."

"Understandable but you're not going to get that money if you keep beating his ass."

"You hear to fight us?"

"I'm here to tell you to back down."

"And what if we don't?"

"Then I'll put you down."

"Not if you don't make it out of here alive." I gave a toothy grin.

"Let's find out."

"Let's ." Hutch leapt at me and I took a step to the left. As he passed me, he whipped his tail across my muzzle and implanted shards of ice into my muzzle. Where the hell did he get ice in Florida? I shook my head and ran straight at a tree, leaped and use the tree to kick off and hurl myself at Hutch. I barreled right into him and we rolled across the ground. I landed on top of him and quickly snapped my jaws onto his neck. He struggled underneath me but I only tighten my jaws enough where blood began to pour out. He may be more experience in magic than me but when it comes to actual fighting, I had the advantage. I let go of his neck when he began to gasp for breath. I leaned down to his ear.

"If you're not out of Miami by tomorrow night, you're going to wish that I had killed you now." I jumped off him and limped out of the forest. I nipped at the other two's feet as I passed them.


	9. Chapter 9

"If I don't help him with this job, he's gonna get himself killed." Michael said as we worked on the charger's engine. Apparently, Michael's little brother needs help helping someone else out. "Oh, and now he's decided that the car is his."

"I've never seen you this attached to anything, Michael." I said, finishing up my work.

"If my dad left me this car, it was for a very good reason. He wasn't the sort of guy who would just leave me this because he was feeling generous."

"Yeah, well, I almost lost a finger putting in that air filter. I don't think he did you any favors."

"Yeah, well, that was more his style. Try it now." I climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key only to have the engine spit out a protest. "Uh, check the ignition." I heard Michael sigh as I reached under the dashboard to grab the wires only my fingers touched something else. I peered under to see a square computer board on the wires. Not a very good listening bug. I got out and went back to Michael.

"You know you go a bug in there."

"A bug?"

"Under the dash. Looks like Sam's work."

"Dawn, you don't know it's Sam."

"I know Sam's work. I thought you had an arrangement. He tells the feds what you're up to, tells you what the feds up to."

"I handle it."

"No, no, no, no." I extended my nails, the tips turning into very sharp blades. "I'd be happy to take care of it. There's nothing like a stomach gash to remind Sam who his friends are."

"Don't say anything. I know it's there. They'll only hear what I want them to hear. It's better this way."

"Is that tradecraft, Michael, or just protecting your friend?" I asked.

"It's both, Dawn." He stood up and walked over to me. "I gotta get cleaned up. Can you put this back together? Don't do—" He pointed a finger at me as if to tell me not to go looking for trouble.

"Look, I'll—I'll behave." He walked away. I smiled to myself. "Maybe."

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I walked past a plane and a red Ferrari in a sapphire blue dress and my blonde hair flying behind my shoulders in the wind. I walked up to hangar.

"Hey," I called to a guy and gave him a chuckle. "Is this Hangar 12?"

"What are you looking for?" The man asked.

"Hangar 12. I think. I met this guy at a club and he—he told me that he had a private plane and that he would take me up in it. And I—I get here and it's nothing like a regular airport."

"No, this is a private airport. I mean, this is Hangar 12 but it's uh, it's not your friend's hangar 12." I gave a light chuckle.

"God. What a jerk."

"What's the problem?" Another man walked up to us.

"No problem, relax." Guy One said.

"You have to leave." Guy Two said to me.

"You guys are working, huh?" I asked. "You know before I go, do you guys have a—a bathroom?" I walked past the two men to the back of the hangar, eyes quickly surveying the walls to see guns and weapons peeping out from behind boxes. "I mean drove out here all the way from South Beach and it looks like I have to go all the way back—"

"I'm sorry. You have to leave."

"Hey." A third's man called and an older man came up to us. _Should I stay and risk getting in trouble or should I leave and go back to Michael like I promised since I didn't have my collar? I'll stay. I'm pretty sure I can talk my way out if there's a problem. _The third man started to speak in a foreign language to the other two men.

"You're the, uh, boss?" I asked.

"That's right." Man Three said.

"I—I was just looking for a bathroom."

"No bathroom, out." Third man walked over to me and pushed me to the front of the hangar.

"Okay."

"Now."

"God, I just need to pee." I walked away from the men and headed back to Nate and Michael.

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"Arms dealers." Michael concluded when I told him what I saw. We leaned against the trunk of the charger, me in between the brothers. "Great."

"Heavy stuff too." I said. "Their plane had new engines. It could probably carry a few .50 caliber machine guns, maybe even a small tank."

"Probably shipping off to some African war off limits to legit dealers."

"Wait, you sure?" Nate questioned me. "You saw guns?"

"I'm sure. But I didn't even need too. I know a gunrunner when I see one. Fiona taught me the signs. They're her people. They ship in a special lubricant and the whole hangar smells like it." I grabbed a lock of hair and sniffed it. "Mmm, there it is."

"No wonder I got my ass kicked."

"Oh, you were lucky. The old guy had a Desert Eagle nine millimeter with combat grips."

"Ex-Mossad." Michael concluded.

"What do you mean?" Nate asked. "Like Israeli spies?"

"Sure, every other retired spook is an arms dealer." I said. "It's not a bad gig, if you can stand the ex-spooks." I looked at Michael as I said the last word and he snapped his head towards me and gave me a condescending look behind his sunglasses. "You should probably call your client."

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"Mike, I saved your ass at the warehouse." Sam said as he looked in the fridge for a beer. "The least you could do is have some decent beer." I sat next to Michael at the table, flipping through the pictures that Sam and Michael took when they followed the arm dealers.

"Next time you plan on saving my ass, tell me _before _I go to the store." Michael said. "We still have to find out where they keep their guns."

"I think you're gonna have to do the spy thing, Mike. Make a new friend. But I can't get an angle on the father. I mean, his security drill is airtight."

"What about the brothers?"

"The older brother's the same. He foes to work, he goes home. There's no way in."

"Younger?"

"I talked to him at the hangar." I said. "He's not so bright."

"I could check him out." Sam offered.

"Maybe you should bug his car." There was an awkward silence.

"Yeah, maybe I should. I'll do the recon. I'll see you guys later." And with that Sam left. Michael slapped me with his pile of pictures and I slapped him back with my pile of pictures.

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Fiona and Michael came through the door with bags in hand. I jumped off the bed, my nails clicking on the ground, and Sam turned the walkie talkie off.

"Hey, Mikey," Sam called to Michael. "You read this guy's profile, you're gonna kiss me."

"I am not gonna kiss you, Sam." Michael protested as he set the bags on the counter.

"Look, I'm not saying I'm gonna like it. I'm just saying you're gonna kiss me. It is that good." I hopped onto a bar stool and placed my front paws on the counter as Michael and Fiona began to unload stuff. "Alright, let's make you into an arms dealer." Michael began to make the fake C-4 as I watched Fiona make the real thing with curious eyes.

"How's the rest of the cover I.D?" Michael asked.

"Pretty good. Got you a fake Rolex."

"Please, Sam, I could have stole him a real one." I scuffed.

"You said you were done stealing, Dawn, remember?" Michael scolded me. I snorted and looked back at Fiona's work.

"Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted," Sam said. "Got a buddy who can rent us an Aston Martin pretty cheap. There's your business card."

"Ice Iron. That's my name." Sam chuckled.

"Yeah, I got to have some fun, Mike. Ah, here we go. Got you a list of Jumba's favorite wines , his position in the family business, favorite clubs, even where he likes to vacation."

"Nice work."

Hey, you done making the fake explosive? Can I lick that?" Michael was using cake icing to make the fake explosive. Michael chuckled.

"Knock yourself out." Michael walked over to me and ran his hand down my side, getting cake icing in my fur. I nipped at his hand as he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. "How's it coming, Fi?"

"Dangerous, unstable. Remind you of anyone?" Fiona looked at me.

"I may be dangerous but I am not unstable." I hung my head like I was ashamed of something. "At least not all the time."

"Pack it up, put a detonator on it. Make it look pretty. We have to put our best foot forward." Michael said.

"I'll wrap it in a bow." Fiona said.

"All right, I got to go to my mom's place. Sam."

"Mike." Sam called to him.

"Fiona."

"Michael." Fiona called to him.

"Dawn, be good." I turned and watched Michael leave the loft before giving a growl at Sam as he sat down at the table eating cake icing. I hopped off the stool and jumped onto the table and stuck my head into the bowl and began to lick it. Sam slapped the spoon onto my head, making it stick with the cake icing.

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"Are you going to see your new girlfriend?" I asked Michael as he came down the steps buttoning his shirt.

"Judith? She's not coming, no." Michael answered. "Which is good because I think Jumba is the jealous type." I walked over to Michael and helped him buttoned up his shirt.

"I can see why she likes you. You look like a secret agent."

"Listen, Dawn, I just need Jumba to show me where daddy keeps his guns, we bring in the cops, everyone goes home happy, expect for Judith."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't be so hasty." I grabbed his jacket off the bed. "Imagine some South Beach model hanging on your every word." He turned around and I slipped his jacket on. I ran my hands down his back to smooth out the wrinkles. "How many times has she called you?"

"Five." I gave a chuckle. "Maybe she wants Jumba to take the deal." Michael turned back around to face me and I smoothed out his front.

"She wants to trade up." I looked up into his eyes. "Admit it. You're tempted." Michael gripped my upper arms with his firm hands.

"Not for a minute, Dawn." I sighed. "If I need a beautiful woman to mess up my life, I could do better than Judith." He turned and left. I wanted to grab his arm and pull him back. Wanting to make him stay but I knew he had a job to do and like he said before, relationships just aren't his thing.


	10. Chapter 10

Michael opened the gate open for me and I slithered through the crowd of people and into the private lot. Michael closed the gate and ascended the stairs with me behind him. It was a fun night. We went to the club, had a few drinks, danced for a little bit. Just like the old days. I looked up to see Michael's door open a crack.

"Looks like you had visitors." I said, shifting to dog form and slipping past Michael and into the lost.

"Took them long enough." Michael said. A rank scent, kind of like spoiled food, snacked me on the nose. Michael pulled out a black light and scanned the floor with it to reveal footprints.

"Three man team?"

"Sounds about right. Two sneakers and a loafer." I sniffed the trail as Michael went up stairs.

"They're not terribly careful, your surveillance."

"They weren't hiding." I raised my muzzle into the air and pricked my ears to hear anything beyond the club's music. Nothing.

"I miss your F.B.I detail. They were kind of sweet."

"The feds were errand boys." I shifted back as Michael came back down. "But these guys on the other hands, might actual have something useful."

"I don't know why they bother. They should just put a bullet in your head and be done with it."

"Apparently, I'm more valuable alive than dead." He stood about a foot in front of me, his suit all smoothed and perfect. "But I'm sure they'll take it under advisement."

"Oh, you think they're listening?" I questioned him quietly. Before he could answer, his phone rang. He answered it.

"Yeah, Mom?" I strained my ear to listen to the other side of the line.

"Michael," Maddie sounded panic. "There are men here outside the house with guns."

"What? What men?"

"I don't know. They've been watching. They're coming inside."

"Call the cops. Call them right now." Michael raced out the door with me behind him in dog form.

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I raced along side the charger, my pads skidding across the concrete, tearing them up. My claws clicked as they reached out to gather more ground as I managed to keep up with the charger's speed. As we approached Maddie's house, Michael turned off his headlights and I raced up the walkway to the front door where I heard crashing inside. Michael kicked down the door and I rushed inside. Two men charged at Michael and a dog flung himself onto my back. I let myself keep falling until I was rolling sideways, sending the dog right over me. I jumped to my paws and spun around to face the small blue gray bitch. I waited for her to launch herself at me, then dodged away and flicked my front paw into her face. She screeched and staggered back, bleeding from her nose. I bit her flank so hard that she left a clump of fur in my teeth as she wrenched herself free. It was only then when I had realized that Michael was done fighting with the two men and of course he won. I crashed into her, stretching out my front paws to run my claws down her flank. She shrieked and whirled to face me. Furious green eyes stared into mine and she lunged toward me with her teeth bared. I knocked her away with a thrust of my head, then sank my claws into her ear and felt the thin flesh tear satisfyingly. She fell sideways, leaving her pale gray belly open to the ceiling. One slice with my claws and. . . Pain shot through my tail and I let out a screech. Whipping around, I saw a cream colored male clinging to the tip with his teeth. Where the bloody hell did he come from? He looked younger than the bitch by several months, his fur still pup soft around his face but the determination in his eyes made me flinch. I tried to back away but he didn't let go and the agony in my tail made my eyes close for a moment. Behind me, I heard the bitch scramble to her paws, out of reach. I clawed myself across the living room but the young dog kept his jaws locked on my tail until I felt the bone splinter. I slapped my paw down on his muzzle and he finally let go. The bitch stood to the left of me and the male to the right. I stood there, panting for breath, eyeing them both, waiting for one of them to lunge at me.

"Enough!" A man's voice shouted. I looked up to see a man entered the room with a grip on Maddie's arm. I growled furiously at him and the bitch and male growled at me. "Bellossom, Blastoise, please." The dogs went over to the man's side as the two men that Michael fought got to their feet.

"Dawn," Michael called quietly to me. I shifted to human form and went over to Michael's side.

"Fourteen minutes. I figured you for twelve. It's probably those causeways. See, you'll have to forgive my sketchy Miami geography. I'm new in town. We nearly got lost coming from your place."

"Mom, are you okay?"

"They cut the phone lines." Maddie cried. "I couldn't call the police. Then they broke in and I—"

"It's okay. It's ok." Michael soothed her. "You want to tell me who you are?"

"I'm the new man in your life." The man said. Michael stared at him and the guy chuckled. He let go of Maddie and she stumbled over to us and Michael pushed her behind his back. "You pissed off a lot of people getting your hands on the Homeland Security directive authorizing your burn notice. You're a private citizen now. You're not suppose to touch that kind of thing."

"I asked nicely."

"You wanted attention from someone a little higher up on the food chain."

"That's about right."

"It's your lucky day. Here I am. And here I will stay—" He grabbed a glass cylinder and dropped it on the ground, shattering it. Michael sighed beside me. "Until you back off."

"Michael, why are they doing this? Are you in some kind of trouble?" Maddie asked.

"Not now. Not now, Mom. Dawn, please." I took Maddie gently by the arm and led her outside to the porch swing before heading back inside to Michael's side. "Your problem is with me, not with her. You have no business coming here."

"Oh, no, but we do." The man said. "See, you're a major security risk. You just assaulted two federal agents."

"Yeah, but they clarify that when they attacked Michael. So, technically, it was just self defense." I smirked at him. Michael uncocked his gun and handed it to the man and he took it.

"Go ahead. Arrest me. I'd like to take a look at the indictment."

"Wouldn't you now?" The man questioned Michael.

"Yeah."

"Listen, you be a good boy and I'll get out of your hair. Or fur as in this girl's case." I glared at him. The man pulled out a pocket knife and flipped it open. "Until then, I'll need to keep looking." The man went over to a chair and sliced the back of it open. "Sorry. You can't be too careful."

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Sam and Michael sat down as Fiona and I leaned up against posts looking out on the water. We were down at the marina, waiting for a boat that got stolen from Sam's friend. I perked my ears and in the distance, I heard a boat engine.

"Five, four, three, two, one." I muttered as I a boat rounded the corned and drove up to a dock a couple docks down from us. A black man came out of a car and walked over to the boat.

"He's cute." Fiona muttered.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Can't I think other guys are cute?" I laughed and rolled my eyes. Michael stood up and took his jacket off to reveal a gray wifebeater that hugged his chest muscles.

"What's your cover I.D, Mikey?" Sam asked. Michael grabbed a blue hat off a hook.

"Think I'm going to go with devoted employee." Michael said. "How's, uh,-" He thought about it for a moment before answering in a southern accent. "Homer?"

"Homer. I like it." Michael bent down to grab some dirt and rub it on his shirt. I sighed and Michael looked down at me and smiled and I smiled back. "You want me to set up that one, Mike?" Sam pointed to a white boat. "The sailboat?"

"Yeah, that's good." Michael cocked his head at me and I took off my collar and handed it to Fiona before I followed him out onto the dock where the stolen boat was. We waited for the cops to come to the sailboat Sam and Fiona were on before approaching the Jamaican guys.

"Hey there," Michael called to them in a southern accent.

"Can I help you?" The guy asked us.

"Yes, sir, I'm here for that boat."

"Oh, you're with the repo man, huh?"

"My boss. Hell of a guy. He's like a father to me. You beat him up pretty good."

"Yeah, that was unfortunate. I'd tried to explain the situation to him but he forced me to clarify my position. This is my property."

"We've got the paperwork right here that says otherwise." My throat became rather dry as I tried to keep a southern accent like Michael.

"Hmm. Well, that paperwork is misinformed." The guy opened his jacket to reveal a gun in his pants.

"Mmm. Why don't we ask the police to sort this out? I mean, they're right over there. I could holler over to 'em right now and ask them to come sort this out." The guy pulled out his gun and held it up against Michael's stomach. "That's a nice piece. You gonna shoot me with it? Probably gonna have to shoot her too. Might be tough to explain to the cops." I danced behind the guy's back.

"Or I can start screamin'." I taunted him.

"The way I see it, if this is your boat, these guns are registered, and you're 100% squeaky clean, you have nothing to worry about. But if not—" I untied the ropes to the boat.

"All right." The guy said. "Making a serious mistake, man." I climbed into the boat as Michael pushed the boat from the docks and jumped in. "You do this, there's no turning back, you know."

"I can't leave without the boat, so if you're gonna shoot us, get it done. Otherwise, we got places to be."

"We'll deal with this another time, when I get a little bit more privacy." I ran my hands down the seats and felt the cold, smoothness of them.

"Ooh, leather seats." I awed. "I can see why you're so attached to it."

"Pretty lady, don't get too comfortable." The guy said in a condescending tone.

"You better watch how you talk to my girl." Michael said in a way that completely turned me on.

"I'll see you soon, huh? I promise." Michael started the boat and turned it around so we could head to the other side of the marina where Fiona and Sam would be waiting for us. We reached them, Sam hooked the boat to the truck and Fiona pulled it out of the water. Michael had the back seats up rummaging through the bottom of the boat.

"What are you looking for back there?" Sam asked, climbing up.

"He was confident he getting his boat back. I want to make sure there's no surprises." Michael said.

"Well, people get attached to their vehicles. I had a Cadillac El Dorado once. That thing was part of the family." Michael pulled a black box from the seat.

"G.P.S tracker. It's how our Jamaican friend was gonna find us."

"Son of a bitch." Michael got out of the boat and placed the tracker in front of the back tire.

"Sam, how well do you know Virgil?" I asked. "You trust him?"

"He's like a brother, Dawn. I mean, the guy saved my life." Sam answered. Michael tapped the truck's side and Fiona ran over the tracker.

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Fiona drove the boat to the repair shop Virgil was talking about, Sam to the right of her, Michael to the right of him and me in Michael's lap. Fiona brought the car to a stop and I slid off Michael's lap into the seat as Michael got out to go into the warehouse.

"So, how are things with Campbell?" I asked Fiona as we waited for Michael to come back out.

"They're good, they're good. We went to dinner the other night. Bulbasaur."

"Really? Isn't that the new Italian place over on Washington Street?"

"Yep."

"I thought only _special guests _could get in?"

"Well, Campbell's brother works there and he got us in."

"Wow, lucky you."

"You think that's lucky, you should see what Veronica got me." Sam said.

"And what's that, Sam?" I asked.

"A toothbrush."

"A toothbrush?" Fiona and I questioned him.

"Yeah, a toothbrush. That means, I'm out of Mike's place and I'm moving in with Veronica."

"Congratulations, Sam." I said.

"So, uh, how are things going with you and Mike?" Before I could answer, gunshots fired and I looked past Fiona to see Michael running out of the warehouse. He waved at Fiona and she drove forward as Michael leapt into the back of the truck and crouched down.

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"It's clear." Fiona told Michael who was leaning up against the boat. "I don't think they followed you."

"So, Virg, it got pretty hairy back there," Sam told Virgil. "How well do you know these clients of yours?"

"You mean James?" Virgil questioned him. "Like I said, he did me a few favors. He had all the paperwork. It seemed like a simple delivery."

"James and his friends are cops, dirty cops." Michael told Virgil.

"What—what you talking about?"

"Oh, I wouldn't lie to Michael again, Virgil." I said.

"They had department issue Glocks on hip holsters, a late model Crown Vic in the parking lot." Michael's voice got louder and louder with each word he said. "I think they knew you." He was up in Virgil's face now. "You know what it sounded like to me?"

"Easy, Michael," I said, placing a hand on his chest.

"They do know me, from some boat repos that went bad." Virgil said. Michael looked at Sam. "They came to me. Look, I got a daughter in Tampa. They took pictures. They said they'd hurt her if I didn't help."

"Why do they want that boat so bad?" Michael asked the question sternly.

"How the hell do I know? It's a Donzi 27 DR. It might be worth a couple hundred grand."

"They were ready to incinerate you and the boat. It's a nice boat, but it's not worth killing the five of us and blowing up a boat yard."

"Sam, you know I wouldn't do this to you. I may be a son of a bitch for dragging you into this but if I had any other choi—" Michael threw up his hands up into the air and walked away from us, clearly out of patients.

"Hey, Mike." Sam called after Michael and jogged up to his side. I walked over to his left side. "You know how I told you Virgil saved my life and all that? Truth is, it's—it's more complicated than that. Back in '84, I was in East Germany. I made some mistakes, Mike, did some stuff I shouldn't have. Virgil gave me a second chance when I sure the hell didn't deserve it. I owe him, Mike."

"Sam." Michael said sternly.

"It's his daughter. If you're not in on this, I gotta handle this myself."

"You can't handle this by yourself, Sam."

"Yeah, I know." Michael sighed.

"We need a place to stash him."

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I was upstairs sniffing around for any bugs in the computer or radio. Those little things always gave a sandy smell. I don't know why, don't ask me, they just do. Michael was downstairs planting a bug in a digital camera.

"Oh, another no confidence vote in the Italian Parliament. Any thoughts?" Michael asked, trying to keep a conversation going to make his surveillance team happy. His surveillance team had a listening device and Michael was trying to figure out a way to stop them. Of course. I trotted down the steps and shifted to human form as I approached the counter to where Michael was working at.

"As interested as I am in European politics," I said. "I was thinking this would be a good opportunity for us to discuss why exactly you left me." Michael looked up at me and gave me a look that said _you didn't. _Yep, that's right, Mikey, you want a conversation, then I pick the topic. He wrote something down on his notepad and held it up for me to read. _Not now! _"Oh, I think now's the perfect time."

"It was a difficult time. There was an important reason. It was years ago. We should—Let me gather my thoughts and we can talk about this another time."

"Not even a goodbye, Michael?" I pushed the conversation on. I held up my notepad for him to read. _Nothing transmitting upstairs. _

_Change topic. _I looked up at him and shook my head, my ponytail waving back and forth. "If you remember, I made you dinner that night."

"Well, had I known it was the last supper, I would have chewed slower." Michael sighed.

"If you recall, I let you free in Ireland and my cover got blown when we were in Germany."

"You could have left a note."

"Leaving notes is bad tradecraft. It could have put you in danger."

"You ran away in the middle of the night for my benefit?"

"Believe it or not, Dawn, yeah. It was for your benefit."

"And yours."

"Yes, Dawn, and mine."

"Thanks, Michael. A little honesty is refreshing."

_Happy now? _I nodded.

_Optical bug? _He held up his camera and I smiled. "Let us take some picture to celebrate this special night."

"What a great idea." I walked over to the large window and posed as Michael snapped some pictures. I did another and another.

"How's that one? Can I see it?"

"Yeah." I walked over to him and looked at the camera's screen as he flipped through the pictures. He pointed to a red spot in the picture and I went over to tape a vibrator there. "You had to do that now?"

"I didn't say I'd help you for free. You found your eavesdropper. I'll go over to his little listening post wait till he leaves, see where he scurries to. You think he's the one who burned you?"

"No, he came here to show me who's boss. He's one step closer." I sighed.

"We should do this more often." I leaned up to peck a small kiss on the corner of his mouth before leaving the loft.

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Michael pulled up to the Hermione hotel.

"So this is Sam's new ride?" I asked.

"His girlfriend loaned it to him. He loaned it to me." Michael said.

"Love is a beautiful thing."

"Anyway, are you sure these guys aren't gonna show up and surprise me?"

"You probably have a few hours. They're setting surveillance cameras at your place."

"Which room is his?"

"215. I followed him here last night. The guy acted a little pissed after the business with the personal massager. You sure you want to upset him?"

"He's here to make me behave. I do that, he goes home. I never find out anything. I need him here. If I can't make him a friend—" He got out of the car.

"Next best thing is an enemy." I finished for him.

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"Calmed your mother down." Fiona said, coming into the garage where Michael, Sam and I were loading the ten million dollars that Sam found in the boat into the truck. "I gave her enough sedatives to knock out a trucker."

"Did you ask her what the hell she was doing out?" Michael asked as he carried a bundle of money to the truck. "I told her to keep him inside." Fiona picked one up and I picked another up and lugged it to the truck.

"Oh, go easy on her, Michael." I said. "They snuck out. A woman needs a little danger."

"All right, so what do we do about the cops and James, huh?" Sam asked as he threw a bundle into the trunk. Michael carried another while I followed behind.

"Well, I expect they're gonna be very disappointed when they find out we're giving the money to the Jamaicans." Michael went back for another. "We don't have any leverage."

"They got Virgil's daughter, Mike."

"One problem at a time, Sam. First Virgil, then his daughter." Sam, Fiona and I went back for three more before leaning up against the truck beside Michael and stared at the last bundle of money on the floor. "We could take some of the money, hire her a lawyer. That could take care of it."

"That could take care of us too." Sam said.

"I doubt they'll miss it, Michael." Fiona said.

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We parked on Larry Park and looked for any signs of the cops or the Jamaicans.

"Mike, I should you go." Sam said. "Virgil's my buddy. You don't owe him anything."

"They know me and Dawn. If you show up, they'll think something's wrong. Just cover us and keep an eye out."

"All right. Good luck." Sam grabbed his sniper rifle and climbed up the hill to the top of the bridge.

"It's cute, this loyalty of Sam's." Fiona said. "I rather like this side of him."

"Thanks for doing this, Fi." Michael said. "You too, Dawn."

"Oh, we're not doing this for you." I said. "Fi promised we bring Virgil back alive." I sat in the trunk as Michael began to unload the money and Fiona climbed into the driver's seat. Michael carried the last bundle of money just as a black car pulled up in front of us and the Jamaicans got out with Virgil.

"Hey, they're right on time." Michael said. "Let's make this trade, make it quick and get out of here before things get—" Michael's phone rang. "—interesting." Michael answered his phone. "Yeah, Sam?"

"Your hunch about James was right, 'cause he and the boys just showed up." Sam said.

"Yeah, ok, I'm ready for them." He hung up. "Cops are coming." Michael grabbed a tin can of gasoline and a torch and began to dump the gasoline onto the money.

"Hey! What are you doing, man?" The Jamaican yelled. "What are you doing? I said stop it! Stop it!" He began to walk towards Michael but a bullet hit the ground, just barely missing his right foot.

"Freeze!" James yelled, coming from the front of the truck. "Drop it now!" The cops pointed the guns at the Jamaicans and the Jamaicans pointed the guns at the cops.

"Hey, you, get back! I said back up!"

"Calm down." Michael told the cops. "Calm down." He told the Jamaicans. "Boys, boys, boys! Calm down. We have a little bit of business first. Snake, let Virgil go." Snake paused. "Snake, let Virgil go!"

I'm gonna find you boy and I'm gonna kill you—" Snake threatened Michael.

"I know! I know! And then you'll cut my throat. I know, I know. Let him go." Snake shook his head. "Snake, it's the fumes that ignite. I don't even have to touch it." Michael turned the torch on and brought it close to the money.

"Wait, wait, wait! Okay, okay." Snake stepped aside and Virgil jogged to the truck and got into the passenger seat.

"Have—have you two guys met?" Michael asked James and Snake. "You have a lot to talk about. Snake, Detective James. Detective James, Snake." James pulled out his badge for Snake to see.

"Get down on the ground!" James said.

"You ain't a cop." Snake said. "You're a thief!"

"Okay, on the ground!"

"You ain't no cop!"

"On the ground! Now! Now!"

"Call! Call for backup! Go ahead! You call for backup!" Michael began to walk towards the truck. Snake pointed the gun at Michael's back.

"Michael, duck!" I cried to him. Before Snake could fire, Sam put a bullet in his side. James and Snake's team began firing at each other.

"Go, go, go!" Michael yelled to Fiona. Fiona put the truck in drive as Michael tossed the torch onto the money and got into the truck and covered my body with his to protect me from the flying bullets.

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"Do you think if I start something you could snatch his wallet?" Michael asked me.

"Michael, please, you know I'm professional thief."

"_Retired _professional thief."

"Still has thief in it. Go do your thing." He walked away from me and went up to the man who was sitting at the bar eating. Michael began talking and the guy stood. I made my way slowly to them and when Michael grabbed the guy's jacket, I _accidently _bumped into the man and slipped my hand into his pocket to grab his wallet before scurrying off. Michael caught up with and took the wallet from me. I hooked my arm around his left arm as Michael looked at the guy's I.D.

"Good to meet you, Agent Bly."


	11. Chapter 11

I stood on my left leg and threw my right leg at Fiona's face who knocked it aside. I jumped to the right leg and threw my left leg at her. Once again, she knocked it aside. I threw punch after punch after punch at her but she knocked them all aside.

"Enough." Fiona said. I stopped and breathed heavily. "You're moves are strong and fierce, Dawnna, but you're too slow. You need to pick up the pace."

"Gotta, Fiona." I checked my watch. "Look, I gotta go. I gotta pick up Michael at Sweets Bar. I'll catcha later, Fi."

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I pulled up the bar and Michael came rushing out into the middle of traffic, almost getting hit by a car.

"Go, go!" Michael yelled at me as he got into the car. I stepped on the gas and turned right with cops behind me.

"Michael, what?" I asked, confused.

"Bly set you up. Do you have jewelry in the trunk?" I didn't answer. "Dawn?"

"A few diamonds and sapphires." Michael slammed his fists into his lap.

"I though you were done stealing, Dawn!"

"They caught my eye. They were pretty."

"Dawn, this is not Dublin."

"Yeah, you're right. This isn't Dublin. Here I don't have someone pretending to be a thief and then end up being a cop."

"You can't keep stealing, Dawn. One day, you're gonna get arrested."

"You know, you had always had a problem with my work. I have always supported you."

"I'm helping people. You're off stealing jewelry. Big difference. Is the car at least clean?" I held up my right hand to show him my leather gloves. "Good." I pulled into an alleyway. I pulled out into a busy street. "Here. Here." I turned into a parking garage. I rammed the railing and screeched the car to the halt on the second floor.

"See you back at the loft?" Michael nodded and we bailed out.

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"Oh, here he is now." I told Maddie as Michael came into the loft. "I'll talk to you later." I hung up the phone and walked down the steps. "Your mom says hi."

"How did you get here so fast?" Michael asked me as he closed the door.

"Oh, I got a ride from a pleasant retired gentleman named Tiger. He was concerned for my safety. Let me get this is straight. I was set up by Bly? Revenge for stealing his wallet?" I walked over to the counter and Michael followed me.

"He wasn't gonna send you to jail. That'd be too much paperwork for him. He knew I'd save you." I ducked past Michael to the other side of the counter as he reached into the fridge for a yogurt.

"Save me? I don't need saving."

"The point is, it was a message for me to shut up and accept that I'm burned for good, or my friends and family are fair game."

"Oh, I see. I'm just curious. Which one am I?"

"Can we discuss this later?"

"So, once Bly is taken care of, we can discuss us?"

"Sure."

"I don't suppose killing him would expedite that."

"No, Dawn, no. He's the best connection I have. He can tell me why I was burned, who did this to me. I need to get some leverage. If I gotta go to war with Bly, I gotta put some cash together."

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"Mike, this is some serious collateral damage." Sam said. We at the bar eating lunch. Fiona to the right of me, Sam to the right of her and Michael to the right of him. "I mean, I like this girl. We got to do something."

"I know, I know." Michael said as he a paper brown bag on the table that was full with money. "I think this'll be enough cash to take care of Bly, maybe even find out why I was burned."

"What, are you gonna throw money at him?" Fiona asked.

"Something like that. I'll work out the details."

"You know anything about this gang?" I asked.

"They work for a Cuban émigré named Angel Archen. She works out of a restaurant on Miami Beach."

"Oh, I don't know, Mike." Sam said. "Organized is a pain in the ass. There's a reason why I didn't become a fed."

"We just need them to decide the neighborhood's not worth the trouble and move on."

"Scare the hell out of them." Fiona said with a smile and I smacked her a high five, loving her idea. "Sounds like fun."

"Let's do the recon, check out her soldiers, take a look at Angel and see what we're dealing with." Michael said as he pulled some money out of the bag and handed it to Sam. "Here you go, Sam. Buy your girlfriend some flowers." Sam laughed.

"Oh, Mike, it's gonna take more than flowers." Sam said. "I mean, she's pretty pissed." Michael handed Sam some more money. "Uh, this Bly was rude. I mean, really rude." Michael handed Sam some more money. "She's feeling a little better now." Michael handed Sam some more money. "Okay, perfect. Thank you. I'll get the check."

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Sam sat in the driver's seat of the dodge neon with Fiona in the passenger seat and me in the backseat, leaning forward, looking out of the window.

"When are you going to get a real car?" Fiona asked. "This thing is like a toy."

"Hey, Veronica was going to get me a Cadillac until Mike's surveillance guy screwed everything up"

"A Cadillac?" I questioned him. "What could you possibly be doing to these women?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I shivered. Sam looked back out the window and whistled. "There she is." Sam said. I looked and saw a tall tan woman with long wavy carmel brown hair dressed in blue walking across the street. Fiona started snapping some pictures. "Wow, not bad for a crime boss."

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"They're leaning hard on the neighborhood." Michael said as I sat on his bed and skimmed through the pictures that Sam and Fiona took. "Bad business driving people away who are paying you off."

"So they're amateurs. It'll make it easier to get rid of them." I said.

"I'm not sure it was a good idea to give Sam the café. Three Cuban coffees and his camerawork gets a little jittery."

"It's not the coffee." Michael sat on the bed beside me and looked through the pictures too. "He has lady friend problem. You know, I have to say, Sam's romantic side is surprising."

"Not now, Dawn."

"I'm talking about Sam."

"And you're gonna use Sam as a way to talk about us." I opened my mouth to protest. "After. All right?" I snapped my mouth shut.

"All right. But I promise you, if I'm not satisfied, then I am gonna kick your ass." Michael laughed.

"Dawn, the only you can fight is when you're in dog form and then you're just down right scary."

"Fiona's been teaching me a few moves. So, better start thinking now."

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Once again, Sam, Fiona and I were on surveillance duty. Sam kept nervously checking his phone.

"You've been checking that thing all day. You expecting a call?" Fiona asked.

"No," Sam said defensively. "Well the—lady friend."

"You send her flowers?" I asked.

"Yes, I sent her flowers. Why do you think I'm checking my phone?"

"What did the card say?" Fiona asked. Sam sighed.

"It said I'm sorry, call me."

"She doesn't need I'm sorry." I said. "She needs to know who you are, where she stands. I would imagine."

"All right. Well, let's say I sent her a second card. What would it say?"

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I trotted around some bushes, trying to make myself look like a stray dog. Fiona pulled up in the dodge neon with Sam at the café down the street. Michael was across the street with the assistant crime boss, Barley. I padded close around the neon, nose to the ground, eye on Michael as he talked to Barley. Michael looked at Fiona and I raised my head to look at him. _What are you thinking, Michael? _

"Hey, Honey!" Michael yelled at Fiona as he made his way to her. "Honey! Yeah you! Get outta the car! Get outta the car!" Michael pulled out his gun and smashed the window with the butt of it. It finally hit. Duh, I'm so stupid. Michael had to convince Barley that he's a bigger threat. Duh, Dawnna. "Get out! Gimme your bag!" Fiona looked at him like he was crazy. "Gimme your money! Gimme your money! Fi, sell it. Dawn," I barked viciously and growled, snapping my jaws together. Fiona let out a scream that almost busted my eardrops as Michael opened the door. Fiona and him fought over the bag. "Give it! Gimme you bag!" Fiona punched Michael in the face, not once, not twice, not three, but four times. "Fi! Fi, cut it out. Gimme the bag, Fi." I snapped at his ankles, my teeth just barely grazing the skin. Fiona let go of the bag and Michael went back over to Barley. Fiona closed the door and drove away. Sam walked away from his post and I disappeared into the bushes.

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I trotted at a slow speed all the way to Michael's loft. Angel was taken care of, Michael got rid of Bly. Now it was time to talk. I shifted to human form as I approached the steps and ascended them. I unlocked the door and walked in to see Michael at the counter, steam rolling off of him from the shower and no shirt on. Sexy.

"Hi," Michael greeted me as I set my keys down.

"So, Bly is gone." I said. "As promised, we talk about us or I kick your ass."

"Dawn, I don't know what to tell you." Disappointment clouded my face.

"You promised, Michael."

"Yeah, I promised I'll talk about it. I didn't promise I know what to say."

"You know, I just want to know where I stand. I-I've been here awhile. It's been fun. Love it. The jewelry's nice. Is this going anywhere?"

"Dawn, do you remember when we were together? We were profoundly unhappy. I still have scars to prove it. You remember? Dublin, Germany—"

"Yes,"

"I just can't do that again."

"So you want to be with someone else?" I asked as I closed the space between us.

"No. Dawn. As unhappy as we were, I don't think there's anyone I could be with that would make me happier than you. And I don't know if that's good or not."

"It's not." I looked down at my feet before throwing a punch at Michael's face. He knocked my fist aside and jumped back as I tried to kick him in the stomach. I sent another punch to his face but he knocked my arm away. Putting himself in a defensive position, he moved his elbow and knocked it into my left jaw. I groaned and stumbled back, pain crawling around my face.

"Oh, sorry, sorry." I turned around and glared at him. "Dawn, Dawn. I didn't mean that." I steadied myself and looked over Michael, planning my next move. _Gotta pick up the pace, Dawnna. Make your moves faster. _"Dawn. Dawn." I kicked at his left side and he pushed my leg down. As I made a move for his face, he ducked and wrapped his arm around my neck. I pushed his arm over my head and dropped to the ground to wipe my leg under his feet, making him fall to the ground on his back. I stood up. He groaned in pain. "Uh, Dawn, hold on. Hold on." I grabbed his outstretched hand. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." I bent his wrist back and heard the satisfying noise of cracking bones. "Ow!" He stood up. "Ow." He spun me around and pulled his hand away and took a couple steps back from. "You're gonna get yourself hurt. Stop it. I'm warning you. Dawnna." I kicked at his stomach and as I tried to raise my arm for a punch, he locked my arms behind my back, pulling me close to his bare chest. I opened my mouth for a kiss but he pulled his head back. "No." He grabbed my arms and slammed onto the bed on my back. I wrapped my ankles around his neck and pulled him down with me, flipping him over onto his back and climbing into his lap. I placed my hand on his throat and he placed a hand under my chin. He let go of my arm and I slid my hand down the side of his face. I leaned down as he let go of my chin. Just when my lips were inches away from his, he flipped us over where he was on top and I was on bottom. He cupped my cheek in his firm hand and bruised my lips with his. I intertwined my tongue with his and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. He felt heavy against me but he didn't crush me. I felt happiness sprout inside me as I dug my fingers into his hair. God Eros, I missed this feeling.


	12. Chapter 12

Music blared in my ears, adrenaline pouring through my veins as I kicked and punched at the punching bag.

"You're late." I said when I heard the side door open and figured it was Michael. I twisted around, throwing my right heel into the side of the punching bag. My music turned off.

"What's that?" Michael questioned me.

"You're late." I twisted the other way, throwing my left leg into the side of the punching bag. There was a sharp thump and I didn't even have to turn around to know that Michael almost tripped over the step to sit at the island. "Watch the step. I made you tuna with tahini, your favorite."

"Good memory." I punched the bag punch after punch, rapidly. "You're not fast enough." I stopped and turned to look at him who had his back to me, eating his breakfast. I returned to the bag and began punching it again. "Still not fast enough." I growled and shifted to dog form, attacking the bag, tearing it from the hook before shifting back to human form.

"Was that fast enough?" I walked into the kitchen and stood in front of Michael who was reading a file that Bly had given him before he left Miami. "Oh, no. No dossier at lunch." I went to close the file but Michael put his hands firmly on the papers to stop me. "You have had your head buried in this thing… every waking moment since you got."

"Dawn, it's not everyday you get to read fictional life of your whole life. Apparently, I sold secrets in Lebanon, code breaking technology in Jordan. Who knew? I gotta figure out my next move." I turned to the stove to gather up the dishes and throw them into the sink.

"I just can't believe it's the only thing on your mind these days." Michael sighed.

"Dawn. I know we haven't talked about what happened the other night. It was—well you know what it was." He murmured. "But I—There's a reason why it didn't work before." I turned to him.

"We were in a war zone." I closed the file. "This is Miami, Michael."

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Michael got the stuff out of the trunk and headed to the beach while I headed in the other direction.

"Dawn. The beach is this way." Michael said.

"Actually, I got to run an errand. It'll only take a second."

"What will?"

"Baggin' a bail jumper. I thought it would be fun."

"You're a bounty hunter now, Dawn?"

"No, actually Fiona is. She's out on a boat with Campbell. She asked me to do this for her. You know make up with all the stuff she did for me back in Dublin."

"Dawn." I stopped and faced him, his buttoned up shirt opened to reveal his chest muscles.

"How often do I help you?"

"All the time." I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket. "Here's who we're looking for. Mm-hmm. Ansel Tor." I crossed the road and a guy comes rushing out of a hotel. Sandy brown hair and gray eyes. "Uh, there's your guy." Someone came rushing out behind Ansel. Brown guy white eyes and black hair. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who is that?"

"Oh, what did Fiona say his name was? I think she said his name was Beetle Whisker or something like that. Bounty hunter, I believe. You take Beetle, I'll take Ansel."

"That doesn't seem fair." I shifted to dog form and ran at top speed down an alley and slithered my way down a fence to see Ansel behind a dumpster.

"There you are." Ansel turned and held up his hands in defeat.

"Please, please." Ansel pleaded. "I didn't do it. I'm innocent. I swear." I shifted to human form and cable tied his hands and ushered him back to Michael's car where he was waiting in the driver's seat.

"In you get." Ansel climbed into the back.

"Nice work, where do we deliver him?" Michael asked me as I sat in the passenger seat.

"We don't. He says he's innocent. He's comin home with us."

"Hi, I'm Ansel." Ansel introduced himself to Michael.

"Hey!" Beetle yelled at us as Michael began to drive away.

"I told you this would be fun." I told Michael.

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"Beijing, London, the Taj Mahal. Look at all these." Ansel awed, looking at Fiona's snow globes and my glass cups.

"Bounty hunter." Michael recited the title. "The point is to collect the bounty by turning him in. The job is- $4,000?"

"He's offering us eight thousand to clear his name, Michael." I said.

"Wow!" Ansel awed again.

"Hear him out."

"Man, you have been, like everywhere." Michael went to go sit on the couch.

"The snow globes are Fiona's and the glass cups are mine. Work a job, buy a glass. Some people say I'm sentimental."

"Why don't you tell us about your situation?" Michael offered.

"Oh right, yeah." Ansel set down Fiona's Italy snow globe and my Dublin cup as I sat down next to Michael. "I do, uh, liquor promotions for a bunch of hotels on South Beach. Now, I'm friends with a girl who night managed the Victor. A couple months ago, I'm makin a delivery, and she shows me this, uh—You know like, you pin on your, um—You know, what do you call the—"

"A brooch?" I suggested.

"Right. They were holding it for a guest. Two million bucks."

"She showed it to you. Why?" Michael asked.

"Because it's worth two million bucks, man! I mean, it had a huge rock. I mean, the thing was just—Anyway, it gets stolen. And my friend gets fired for showing my the brooch and the cops arrest me."

"For just looking at it? I'm guessing there's more to that."

"Yeah. I had an access card—for the hotel, for the late night deliveries. You know, I lost it. Then I find out somebody used it to rip off the brooch. And now everyone's looking at me like I'm some criminal mastermind or whatever."

"And you went back to the scene of crime. Why?"

"Investigating. I mean, I was trying to find out who did it, you know? My trial was suppose to start yesterday. My lawyer basically tells me before we go in that I'm going to lose. I mean, I just—kind of freaked. I mean, I know that you're not suppose to skip court. But ,man, I can't go to jail."

"I want to help him." I said, not taking my eyes off of Ansel. "Do it for me, Michael." The wind chimes tinkled in the distance.

"Okay." Michael answered.

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I stuffed my hands in my pocket as Michael and I walked out onto the balcony that overlooked the Miami River.

"Between the cops and Beetle and all the other bounty hunters, we're going to have to stash him somewhere." I said.

"Why can't you keep him here?" Michael questioned me.

"You're okay with that—another guy staying at my place?"

"Yeah, it's fine by me."

"Okay then. It's fine with me too."

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Rock music played in the background and the smell of hamburger meat clung to the air as I looked out on the Miami River. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Michael who looked curiously at the grill before turning his attention to me.

"You want one?" I asked. "They're awesome. Ansel is a hell of a cook."

"Playing catch?" Michael asked me, looking at the baseball glove on my hand.

"He's teaching me baseball. Nothing like cricket."

"Sam's checking up on the real thief. So Ansel should be out of here soon enough."

"There's no rush. With Fiona always gone with Campbell, I enjoy the company. Thanks for suggesting it."

"I need a favor, Dawn. I need you to reach out to your shifter friends—the scarier, the better."

"Is this about the dossier?" I asked sitting down.

"It's about the man who burned me. He's hard to reach. I need to recruit some help."

"That's how you're going to do it?"

"I've been accused of being a major security risk. It's time I started acting like one."

"Hmm, let's see. Most of my contacts are back in Dublin. Um, I know a few Brambleclaws coming into town."

"Ooh. Let's avoid dogs who use Michael Westen and kill in the same sentence."

"What about cacturnes? I know a group here. Talking to some South American shifters."

"See if you can set it up." Ansel came back out of the house with two beers in hand and handed one to me. He smiled at me and I smiled back, hoping to make Michael jealous.

"Hey, Mike." Ansel greeted him, returning to the grill.

"Hello." I took a drink of my beer and exhaled heavily.

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"The guy who owns the Victor did this to me?" Ansel asked when Michael told him what he and Sam found out. "I don't even know him."

"It's not personal." Michael said. "You handled the brooch. You had easy access. You're an easy fall guy."

"So what now? Can we go to the cops with that girl Chikorita?"

"Mmm, what do we tell them—I broke into her house and extorted information from her? Meanwhile, Cradily ditches the brooch, Chikorita denies everything, and the only guys that go to jail are you and me." Ansel looked at me.

"It's fine." I said. Ansel got up and went to the doorway of the living room.

"Hard or easy?" I heard a deep voice from outside. "Your choice." Ansel ran away from the doorway. I causally walked to the doorway and cocked my head to the side when I saw Beetle at my front door. Michael stood in front of me.

"Take Ansel out the back." Michael ordered.

"No, I'd rather stay and—"

"Dawn."

"Right." I turned and ushered Ansel out the door and we ran down the balcony steps to Michael's car. Once Ansel was in the car, I went back inside to see if I could give Michael a hand.

"Where'd they go?" I heard Beetle asked.

"I can't tell you if you keep choking me." Michael gasped. I silently went to the bookshelf and grabbed my Greece glass cup. I went over to Beetle and held the glass over his head and slammed it down, breaking the glass and Beetle fell over, blacked out. Michael gasped for breathe.

"Greece was one of my favorites." I whined.

"Thank you."

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"He has to stay with you." I said when we got to Michael's loft.

"With me, Dawn?" Michael questioned me.

"My place isn't safe. We just left the world's largest bounty hunter knocked out on my front lawn."

"Guys, look, I don't want to cause any problems." Ansel said who was sitting on Michael's bed. "I can go stay at a motel or something."

"No. Don't be silly. A cheap motel's the first place guys like Beetle are going to look for bail jumpers." I sat down next to Ansel. "Michael's fine having you here."

"Yeah." Michael said, with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Well, you guys are the experts, I guess." Michael went behind the bar counter. "Seriously, man. Thanks."

"We'll figure this out, Ansel. Tell the plan, Michael." I said as I began to massage Ansel shoulders.

"The plan." Michael stated.

"There's a plan?" Ansel asked.

"Oh, yeah, there's a plan. I'm gonna pose as a buyer, set up a sale, get Cradily to bring the brooch out into the open, then the cops will arrest him."

"And we will be celebrating your freedom—" I said as Ansel exhaled. "By the end of the week."

"Hey, Dawn. Can I—" Michael called to me as Ansel moaned. "Could we talk about the plan? Just—" I got up and went over to the bar counter and leaned on my elbows and front of Michael as he rested his chin on his hand. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything. We're working."

"No, no. This is different and you know this is different."

"Oh, I don't think we're in a relationship, Michael." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You want something to drink, Ansel? Maybe a, uh, yogurt?" I went behind the counter to the fridge.

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"Cladily needs the money. He just thinks it's too risky to move the brooch right now." Michael told us.

"So, what do we do?" Ansel asked who was sitting on the steps. We all looked at him.

"Convince him it's too risky to stay put. I already planted the idea that somebody might be trying to steal it. We need to back that up, push on his paranoia, motivate him to sell."

"I thought you said his place was impossible to get to." Ansel stood up and walked to us.

"It is. Between the security system, the guards and the safe, we'd need a small army to get in."

"We'll just have to make him think we got a small army." Fiona said.

"Christ, this is turning into a full "psych op" campaign." Sam said.

"What are we talking about?" Ansel asked.

"Psychological warfare." Michael answered him.

"Give you an example." Sam said. "U.S. used to broadcast static to Soviet listening posts… trying to get them to think it was some kind of cypher. So they spent all kinds of rubles basically trying to decode white noise."

"We need to convince the enemy we're stronger than we are."

"Yeah, expect it takes forever. Mike, I was suppose to go car shopping with Veronica. We're talking Cadillacs."

"You need to do it next week. We got a lot of work to do. You three scout it out. I got to get ready for a meeting."

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"Jesus." Ansel said when Michael told us about what went down with Cladily and Chikotia." I mean, did he really try to kill you?"

"It didn't get that far but it was heading in that direction, yeah."

"Wh-What are you gonna do? I mean, he-he knows who you are."

"No. He just knows I'm just not who I said I was. Big difference. He still thinks we're gonna rip him off. He still thinks his security systems are compromised. He's still got the move on the brooch."

"And we still got to get him busted for it when he does." I said.

"We just need to figure out where he's taking it."

"But how are we gonna do that?" Ansel asked.

"I've got some friends."

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I sat across the street from the bank, my tail overlapping my front paws. Bullets fired knocking the cameras out and I knew that Sam had started the party.

"Everybody back!" A guard yelled.

"Hey! Hey!" A man shouted. People started screaming and shouting and running all over the place. A white SUV pulled up to the bank and Cladily and men got out. His phone rang and he answered it. Cladily turned around and looked up to see Sam with the gun.

"Gun!" He shouted. His bodyguards pulled out guns and pointed them at Sam when police cars closed them in. I trotted down the block to Michael and watched the police arrest the men.

"All this to clear the name of an innocent man." I said. "That's noble. You should be proud."

"You know who I did this for, Dawn." He smiled down at me before walking away. I stood there for a few seconds before bounding after Michael and falling into pace beside him.

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I laid on the hood of Michael's car with my head on my paws and watched as Beetle pulled up and got out to walk towards me.

"All right, I'm here." Beetle said. "What couldn't Fiona say over the phone?"

"Bondsmen won't have anything to do with Fiona… now that you've told them she was aiding and abetting." I gave a bark and Ansel got out of the car, hands cable tied. "So she was thinking, when you collect your bounty, maybe we could split it."

"That's what she thought, huh? I wouldn't be expecting a check anytime soon. Come on."

"Consider it I'm sorry I brained you with a glass cup gift then."

"Why'd you wait to turn him in?"

"He was gonna pay us off, but his check bounced."

"You're all heart, lady. Come on." He began walking to the car with Ansel as he pulled out his phone. "Mr. Foot, Beetle Whisker here. I just collared Tor and I'm haulin him in right now." There was silence as Beetle received the bad news. Beetle snapped his phone shut and stared at Ansel. Ansel smiled and pulled his hands apart, revealing a cable tie on each hand. He laughed as he made his way back to the charger. "That's real cute. You know, Dawnna, next time—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I shifted back and hopped off the hood and got into the driver's seat.

"Later, Beetle." Ansel said as he got into the car too.

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"My lawyer says my case is looking good," Ansel said when we met up with Michael at the beach. "But I gotta go clear it up in court tomorrow."

"I would show up this time." Michael said.

"So, eight grand doesn't seem like that much… for what you guys did but here." I took it from him.

"You're sweet." I said. "Thank you." Michael walked away from us to the trunk of the charger. Ansel leaned down to give me a kiss but I tilted my head to the side to avoid lip to lip contact. The only man I would want to kiss these days was Michael Westen. But that's not going to happen anytime soon. "You should go, Ansel. I'm not sure all the bounty hunters that are looking for you… got the memo that you're off the hook. I wouldn't want you to get Tasered in the middle of our nice moment."

"Uh. Well—" He chuckled. "Thanks." Ansel picked up his bag and left. Michel closed the trunk and came back to me with his hands behind his back.

"I got you something too." Michael said, pulling his hands in front of him to reveal a glass cup. I gingerly looked at it and held up to eye level, letting the glass sparkle in the sunlight. _Welcome to Miami. _Above the words were two dolphins. Another one below the words. I looked at him before turning to the car. Michael opened the passenger door for me and I climbed in and he closed it. He got into the driver's seat and began to drive me home. All the while, I never took my eyes off the glass.


	13. Chapter 13

I walked to down the beach with Michael on my right side. The wind from the water brushed my skin, tickling me pale. With each step I took was a struggle to conquer the attacking sand at my bare feet. I sighed.

"Oh, you must be getting used to this." I said. "Isn't there a part of you that's beginning to like Miami?" I laced my fingers in between his and smiled in the sunlight.

"It's fine." Michael said quickly.

"Fine? There are people who come here from all over the world. They don't have waterfront like this in Afghanistan."

"Doesn't rain as much either there. There are pleasant parts of Afghanistan. The mountains are nice."

"Maybe we can vacation there someday. Well, when you can travel again, of course." We arrived at the charger and stood in front of it. Michael stared out across the park. "Some special occasion. Speaking of which, it's my birthday in a few days. Did you get me anything?"

"Yeah, I got you something." I swung around in front of him and took his other hand in mine.

"You know, for someone who's worked as a professional liar for most of his career, you're not terribly good at it when it counts." Michael didn't say anything. He just stood there in front of me and stared past me. "What's he doing, your mystery man?"

"Getting heatstroke, it looks like." I pricked my ears and heard the guy gasp.

"Well, Michael, I'm pretending that I'm here for more than just tactical backup. We're suppose to be playing boyfriend and girlfriend." We turned to the left and Michael swung our hands side to side.

"Do you want me to get you a shaved ice, Dawn? I mean, I need someone, okay?" I turned and pressed my back up against Michael's chest and we faced the man again as I gripped Michael's hands in front of me.

"What's this guy's name again?"

"Cacturne Fur. At least that's the name he gave me on the phone."

"And he said he was here to review your status? That's desk jockey jargon for what now?"

"He may be able to get me off the blacklist, revoke my burn notice."

"And now you're about to piss him off on purpose." Sirens wailed and blue and red lights clawed the trees of the park as they surrounded Cacturne.

"Just a precaution, Dawn. I have learned to be careful." Cops got out and nailed the guy with orders.

"Briefcase down, briefcase down." An officer ordered.

"Well, look at him, Michael." I said. "He's a cubicle monkey."

"You can't look in that, sir." Cacturne said as one cop searched him and another cop opened up the case.

"I think he just passed your little test."

"All righty." The support behind me disappeared behind me and I stumbled backward a couple steps. I huffed as Michael climbed into the driver's seat of the charger.

"Well, aren't you going to go talk to him?"

"Now might not be the best time." Michael said. The engine revved and I let out a low growl. I shifted to dog and the heat clung to my black fur. Michael began to drive and I bolted forward, my tail almost catching under the tire. Michael honked and I grinned, racing ahead of the charger.

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"I have been more than patient, Mr. Westen." Cacturne said over the phone. I buried my head in my chest fur and flicked my ear in dismay. "I was willing to meet you in a public park, as _you _requested, rather than my office. I came down in the middle of my work day."

"I'm sorry. I must have missed you." Michael lied.

"Yeah, I-I had a conversation with the police… about a suspicious man matching my description. Y-You're not the first field op I've dealt with, Mr. Westen. Believe me, I've been vetted every which way."

"Maybe we can set up a new time."

"Yeah, I have enough of new times and-and places and tests. I hope I don't have to remind you that my recommendation… carries weight when it comes to removing you from this blacklist. And I expect a little consideration for my time."

"Y-yeah, I apologize. Uh, yeah. It won't happen again. It's just, uh—I talked with a man on the phone who burned me recently. He seemed unhappy."

"This is not about one N.S.A officer… who acted on information in a file. This is a departmental review in which I am—"

"Let's set up a new time, a new place to meet. We'll review the file." Cacturne sighed.

"I'll check my schedule."

"Thank you." Michael hung up.

"You keep pissing him off, Michael, you'll be in Miami forever." I mumbled.

"At least, I'll get an answer. The government sent him down here, and he's not gonna go back to D.C…. without getting a verdict on me. Not at his pay grade anyway."

"You think you could convince him that you were set up?" I rose my head to see Michael laying down on the bench, lifting weights. I laid my head on my paws and watched him, his muscles straining against his skin as he lifted. "I read the dossier. It's pretty convincing." Michael's phone rang and he dropped the weights to sit up and answer his phone. He sighed.

"Yeah, Sam." My head jolted up, my ears straining for words.

"Mike, I'm on my way over. There's that thing… I need you to help me look into right away." Sam said.

"Sam, I'm in the middle of—" The line disconnected.

"Really?" I asked.

"It's Sam."

"Damn straight." I got up and centered myself in the middle of the bed and laid down, curling into a tight ball.

"What's wrong?"

"Me?"

Yeah you."

"Nothing." I lied, stuffing my head into my fur. "It's nothing."

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I walked around the courtyard of Darmanitan Kawena Mall. Sam got Michael wrapped around a gig about this guy's fiancée was kidnapped. The guy sat at the other end waiting for the kidnapper to call him so he could get a video of his fiancée's life. Fiona was looking at shoes a couple yards away from him. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and looked at collars through a window. In the reflection, I saw Michael on the second floor, looking at cards. My phone rang and I answered it on my Bluetooth.

"Are you buying me a birthday card?" I asked.

"Just window shopping, Dawn." Michael said. "You got eyes on Druddigon?" I stared into the reflection at Druddigon.

"Yes. All the way… from the escalators to the charming little lingerie store. They have a fabulous little teddy in there. Make a great gift."

"I've never seen you wear anything but a men's shirt and your collar to bed."

"Fair enough. There's a men's store on the third floor. Nice selection. The ones with the big buttons are easier to undo. And I just walked by a wonderful dog store."

"Focus, Dawn." I opened my mouth and gave a big yawn, my eyelids almost shutting down on me. "You sure you're ok, Dawnna?"

"Michael, it's cute that you're concerned about me but I'm just tired. Ok? Ok."

"Ok. Can you see people on my side of the mall? 'Cause I can't look at everybody."

"Yeah." I looked at Druddigon and saw him get a call. He answered his cell quickly. "Oh, Druddigon just got a call, and he's looking around. There he goes." Druddigon jolted up and walked up the steps, out of my sight. "Anyone looking curious?"

"There's a decent candidate at the café, gray shirt, on your two." My eyes slightly shifted over to the tables.

"Ah, I see. How's our ace operative performing?"

"Looking good. He's going to go get the package now. Okay, Druddigon. Walk away. Just walk away, Druddigon. No, don't—don't—He made me, Dawn." I hung up and sighed as the man pushed people away as and pranced down the steps with Michael close behind him. They rushed past me and I felt the air whizz in my ears. I groaned and shifted before following them out onto the streets. I skidded to a start almost getting hit by a car as Michael followed the guy into an alley. When the coast was clear, I bolted across and followed them. I turned to see the kidnapper standing over Michael with a gun and I leapt at him, pushing on his back with my front paws and pushing him down on the ground. Michael got to his feet. "Thanks." Fiona finally found us and helped us stuff the guy into Sam's car and drove away.

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"Crucio." I mumbled and Electrode screamed as a wave of pain seized his body.

"You're getting used to your powers." Fiona praised me. "Good girl."

"I sometimes feel like it's too much for me though. I try to stay away from it as much as possible. But it's who I am, you know. It's a part of me. I have to practice in order to control it. Crucio." Electrode groaned and the door to the loft opened as Michael walked in.

"Get this crazy bitch out of here!" Electrode yelled.

"That wasn't very nice. It hurt my feelings. Crucio."

"Dawnna was just helping our friend Electrode into a more cooperative mood." Fiona said.

"Where's Sam?" Michael asked.

"Had to get some fresh air." Sam said, coming in front the balcony. "It was gettin' a little, uh, loud in here."

"So, what do we know about our new friend?"

Well, his name is Electrode Paw. Colombian national. He has got a rap sheet here and back at home. He and his brother ran an extortion racket in Colombia. His brother got caught, Electrode ran."

"Good to meet you, Electrode."

"You know what? Go ahead and torture me and use black magic all you want. I'm not gonna tell you nothing."

"Magic? Oh, no. We have something much better than magic. We've got an instant camera." Michael positioned the camera and Sam jumped in the frame as Michael took the picture. "Electrode, you need to think about your situation very carefully. You have been caught in the middle of a delicate assignment. Say we let you go and give you this photo to your boss—along with a cooperating witness statement…you're about to give to the F.B.I." Sam handed Michael a folder with F.B.I. papers in it.

"No, no, no, no. I never made no statement."

"Here's the form." Michael held up a piece of paper before putting it back into the folder. "Looks real, huh? We'll fill it out, sign it on your behalf. Sam's good with the computer."

"Thanks, Mike." Sam said. "It's just photoshop."

"Oh, look here. You have a summons. It means you're going to testify in court against your boss." Sam and Michael let out an 'uh-oh' whistle. "So anyway, we take the photo, we put it in the file. Sam here has ties to the F.B.I. and other government agencies, just in case your boss does his homework. I have to say, you guys look pretty tight here." Michael held up the photo for Electrode to see. "My guess is he won't feel right until you're dead."

"What do you want, man?" Electrode asked.

"You now work for us, Electrode. You tell us what we want to know, and you do what we say, and that is how you will stay alive. Where's Holly?"

"I don't know."

"Cruc—" I began but Michael waved me off.

"You don't know, Electrode?"

"No, no, no. I swear. I swear. I don't know. Houndour keeps everything separate."

"Houndour, your boss."

"I find people, uh, in clubs, in rich neighborhoods, and then Houndour, he does the job with two other guys. Someone else guards the hostages. Everything is separate. Nobody knows each other. He does that for security. Let me be clear here. The girl dies, you die." I shifted and on top of a bookshelf like I was some kind of cat. Just thinking about it offends me. "If you're lying, Dawnna here—"

"I'm not lying, all right? Now I need to check in with Houndour right now. I'm already late. He's gonna to know that something is wrong."

"Fine. Call him. You broke your foot walking down the stairs at the mall. You forgot to call."

"Broke my foot? I didn't break my foot." I fell from the bookshelf and landed on his left foot. He yelled in pain.

"There you go. There are a lot of little bones in your foot, so you'll be able to walk." Michael cut Electrode free of the chair.

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"You want to borrow the Mercedes, man?" Druddigon asked. Fiona and I sat side by side at the bar counter in one of the houses that Druddigon watched. Michael stood to the right in me and Sam was on the other side of the counter, making a drink of course.

"Yeah." Michael answered.

"Just please try not to scratch the car. It's an S550 A.M.G. worth, like, 120 grand."

"And we need a house."

"There's a penthouse downtown that I watch. What do you need it for?"

"We need to find where Holly is being kept. Electrode doesn't know. His job is just finding target for Houndour, so we're gonna have Electrode bring him a new target—a rich society wife."

"Enchanté." Fiona said, indicating that she would be the new target.

"And a disgruntled bodyguard."

"Ya bitch." Sam smiled. "Talk to Houndour, tell him I'm willing to help him pull the job. But he's gotta show me where he keeps the hostages."

"Hopefully, they'll bring Sam to where Holly is and we can grab her. But we gotta move fast. And we need a target that will make him drool."

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I heard Druddigon sigh from the couch.

"Is that a longbow?" I asked, looking at the bow in the glass cabinet.

"I don't know. The-the-the guy who owns this place… is into weapons and stuff.

"Well, that's a soviet-issue sidearm from 1951, I think. It's a piece."

"I guess, yeah." Druddigon buried his head into his hands. He was getting more worried by the minute. I needed to distract.

"How big is that?" I pointed to the flatscreen.

"It's, uh, sixty inches, I think."

"Quality's nice. Is that satellite?"

"It's, uh, DirecTV H.D. That's why the picture's bigger. What the hell are we talking about?" Druddigon jumped up from the couch. "I know that you asked me to stop talking about it… and just to stay here and watch TV, but I can't watch anymore. Are you gonna be able to save her? Please say yes." I heard the door open.

"We're working on it." Michael came into the room, hands stuffed into his pockets. Druddigon began to sob into his hands and Michael stopped and looked at me. He turned to walk out of the room, obviously not wanting to deal with Druddigon, but I couldn't take this guy anymore. "How did we do?" Michael turned back around and glared at me as Druddigon shot his head up.

"Uh, I bought us forty eight hours." Michael said.

"Ah."

"Yeah. I'm setting up a meeting with, uh, Electrode tonight. Electrode's gonna set up a meeting with Sam, and Sam will get them to tell us where they keep the hostages. And we're gonna finish this." Druddigon smiled at that.

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Michael came out of the house with a black bag and walked down the steps. He handed the bag to Fiona.

"Go. You don't have much time." Michael said.

"I'm not excited about you seeing Houndour by yourself." I told Michael as we walked to the Cattilac and Charger.

"Someone needs to stall him in case you guys need more time."

"Mike, nobody's got your back." Sam said. "This goes bad, Houndour could get tipped off."

"The only option for backup is Druddigon. You guys like that idea?" We all hung our heads in shame. "Call me when you got Holly." Michael got into his car and drove away. Fiona and Sam got into the Cattilac and I ran alongside it, going to the place where they had Holly.

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Fiona taped the bomb that Michael made to the wall and we stepped back. When the bomb went off, Fiona cocked her shotgun and I bared my teeth. I looked at Sam and he nodded. With a growl, I leapt at the door and knocked the door down, Sam rushing in with Fiona behind him.

"Drop the gun!" Sam yelled at the two men and woman. "Get down! Get down." Fiona attacked the woman who was reaching for the shotgun. I heard a growl behind Sam and turned to see a black female dog. She made a leap at Sam but I whipped out my tail knocking her aside. She landed in a pile a lumber and didn't bother to get back onto her paws. "Thanks." He turned back to the man who kicked over his gun. "Attaboy. You're not as dumb as you look." A girl moaned on the bed and Fiona went over to her to untie her.

"You're safe." Fiona soothed her. "We're gonna untie you. You're safe. Look at me. You're safe."

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We arrived at the house and I shifted back as Holly came out of the car and Michael came out of the house.

"All set, Mike." Sam told him. "Hospital checked her out. She's fine."

"Is Druddigon here?" Holly asked.

"He's inside." Michael said.

"You guys should talk." Fiona said.

"Ok." Holly replied. Fiona and Holly went to the house.

"Cakewalk, huh?" Michael questioned Sam.

"Aw." Sam mumbled. "Look, Mike, if you ever want to borrow my Caddy, uh, it's yours."

"Thanks." Druddigon came out of the house and met Holly down the steps.

"Druddigon." Holly greeted.

"Babe." Druddigon said back. Holly flicked her wrist out and slapped Druddigon across the face.

"Oooh," Michael, Sam and I said together.

"You lied to me!" Holly yelled.

"Baby, I love you." Druddigon cooed.

"You lied to me!" She slapped him again.

"Ooooh," We said in unison again.

"Another happy ending." Sam said.

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I sat cross legged in front of Michael on his kitchen floor, trying to fix the cupboard that he broke. Apparently his mysterious man tried to kill him last night. People these days.

"Mike, the cops found your assassin in an alley this morning." Sam told Michael over the phone. "He bled to death. No I.D. on him." I touched the broken pieces of the cupboard.

"Repario." I muttered. Nothing happened.

"His fingerprints didn't show up in any government database. So, officially, I guess the guy never existed. Must have been impersonating the real Cacturne Fur."

"Repario."

"You think the guy who burned you sent him?"

"Not a bad guess." Michael said. "Thanks, Sam." He hung up.

"You were right about him, you know?" I said. Michael started to fit the pieces in the frame of the cupboard. "You must feel a little proud of yourself?"

"I wanted my burn notice resolved, talked myself into denying my instincts. That's nothing to be proud of." I touched the cupboard and focused on the new cupboard door.

"Repario." The cracks vanished and the pieces mended together.

"You getting good."

"I have learned it's all about focusing. But I still fear my own strength." I looked at the thick red line on Michael's neck. I reached out my hand and gingerly touched it.

"I'm fine, Dawn."

"You almost died."

"That's happened before." I sighed.

"So, I'm not allowed to be concerned, to worry?"

"You can worry about me."

"Like Druddigon worried about Holly?" I leaned back on my hands.

"Hopefully, not exactly like that."

"Oh, he was head over heels in love."

"I talked to him about what I should get you for your birthday. Close your eyes." I obeyed. "Open." I opened my eyes to see Michael holding a sapphire blue and silver long bow and a quiver.

"A longbow."

"He said you would like it." I took it from him, held it up and pulled the string back.

"Is it the same?"

"Druddigon convinced his boss to see it to me at a discount." I lowered the bow and took the quiver full of arrows from him.

"Thank you, Michael."

"Happy Birthday, Dawn."


	14. Chapter 14

Michael and I walked from store to store looking at dresses, lining my arms with shopping bags.

"What do you think of this collar?" I asked Michael him a white collar with rubies on it.

"Fantastic!" Michael answered.

"I don't know if I want to wear it in dog form because I think it'll stand out too much. But I have a white outfit with a red belt that will match perfectly."

"Are they real?"

"Well, they look real. Isn't that what counts?" He just stared at me as we crossed a street. "You're getting a fake identity, Michael. I can't get fake rubies?"

"Place is up here somewhere." We walked past a dress store and I ditched Michael as he went to get his ID. I bought a pair of black tight boots and left to the ID store. I walked in and looked in the back to see Michael sitting down in a chair with a fat guy in front of him. Michael flicked his eyes towards the guy and then back at me. I tilted my head all the way to the right in confusion. He coughed into his hands and revealed that he was handcuffed and the fat guy slightly turned so I could see that he had a gun in his hand. Typical Michael, always getting into trouble while I'm gone. I wasn't even gone for five minutes and he got into trouble. I bit my lower lip in thought. I can't go charging in there in dog form. That will be a risk of getting Michael shot or me. My eyes got widened and I grabbed my collar and ran to the back.

"Hi, honey! Look at the deal I got on this necklace. You're not gonna believe it." Michael just smiled and nodded his head.

"Lady. Lady, you can't be back here." The fat guy said. I turned to him and looked at him with surprise. "Get out of here. Get out of here."

"Oh."

"Now."

"Sorry, I just to show my boyfriend my fake rubies."

"Now!"

"She's pregnant!" Michael yelled. The guy looked at him and I knocked the gun from his hands and ran out the door with Michael behind me.

"Pregnant?" I questioned him.

"It worked."

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"Well, it's like Lucy said. Chances are he's probably still in the area." Sam said. I sat on Michael's bed, my blue eyes scanning every movement of Michael's body as he sat in his chair, looking at files. Fiona was at the counter. "There's no recent credit card activity, no car rentals." Michael's pale green eyes met up with mine for a second and I laid my head on my paws as he looked to Sam. "The only blip, Mike, is where he works. Greenway Worldwide Cargo off of 57th. Talked to my A.T.F. buddy. There's, uh, some kind of investigation. Uh, some link to organized crime."

"Great." Michael said.

"U.S. attorney's office is all over it. Left a message, haven't heard back and that's about it." Michael looked back at me.

"I should, uh—I should go talk to Velvet."

"Well, you just talked to her, Mike."

"Yeah, but she was a little flustered the last time. She might have forgotten something."

"I thought you had to get those documents to Lucy. Your fake I.D." Fiona reminded him. He got up and my eyes followed him.

"Yeah, I'll do it later." He walked to the door and I watched him. He stared back at me with concerned eyes and walked out the door. Sam cleared his throat as Michael closed the door. I let out a puff of breath as my head settled back onto my paws, now looking at Sam.

"Something I should know, Sam?" I asked.

"About what, Dawn?" Sam asked and his heart skipped a beat.

"About why Michael's acting this way."

"I'm going to leave now." Fiona said, getting up and leaving, not wanting to get in the middle of this.

"What way?" Sam said. "He seems fine to me." I hopped off the bed and into the chair beside Sam, putting my face an inch from his.

"Tell me about this new client." Sam looked away nervously. I flattened my ears against my head and bared my teeth, letting a growl escape my chest.

"You know, I just remembered, I gotta get Mike some yogurt." He got up and scurried to the door. "You know, 'cause if I don't do that, boy, it's just—You know how he is." And he left.

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Michael killed the engine as we pulled up to the pool the next day. I looked out the window to see a pale woman with amber eyes.

"Ooh, the damsel in distress." I mumbled sarcastically.

"She said it was an emergency." Michael said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Be her knight in shining armor, of course." I got out of the car with Michael and walked to Velvet who got up when she saw us.

"Velvet, this is Dawnna. We work together."

"Hello. Thank you." Velvet said.

"Pleasure." I said, pushing my anger aside.

"Velvet. What happened?" Michael asked. I looked more closely to see a black eye on her left eye. She put her sunglasses on to hide it.

"I went to the courthouse to try to get an emergency custody hearing." Velvet explained. "Some guys were at my car. They knocked me down."

"How many men were there?" I asked.

"Two, I think."

"You think? Could there have been more?"

"Probably the same guys who came by Black's place." Michael said.

"Michael, if Bronzor's caught up in the middle of this, I will never forgive myself. Please you gotta bring him home." Velvet began to cry and buried her head into Michael's shoulder. Tiny flames ignited on my fingertips as jealously clung to my heart.

"It's all right. It's ok." I turned on my heels, flicking my hands to get rid of the flames. I got back into the charger and Michael got into the driver's seat.

"What happened to the trademark Westen emotional distance?" I growled.

"She was upset."

"Obviously. Where's your head at?"

"Dawn, if you're gonna help me, you can't have this attitude."

"Attitude? If you're gonna be this way, I'm entitled to an attitude."

"Maybe I should this one alone."

"Maybe you should."

"I'll drive you home."

"No, I'll get there myself." I shifted as I got out of the car, kicking the door closed with my hind leg. I ran off, letting anger and jealousy propel me.

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Sam got a call. From Michael. Apparently, Velvet turned out to be an assassin sent to kill Black.

"Ah, what a piece of work she is." Sam said, getting out of the car. I leaned on the trunk beside Fiona. "So, Velvet used to you to do the grunt work to track him down."

"She shows up and finishes the job." Michael said.

"And when she kills him, everyone comes looking for you." Fiona finished. "She seemed so nice, didn't she, Dawnna?" I nodded my head.

"Mike, she went through Lucy to get to you." Sam said.

"Yeah, call Lucy." Michael ordered. "Velvet's not the type to leave loose ends."

"Right. Almost forgot." Sam pulled out a gun from his pants and gave it to Michael who handed me his broken one. "That's for you." We walked side by side away from the cars.

"Velvet has the charger?" I asked.

"Yeah." Michael sighed. "It's gonna need some work."

"And your gun?"

"Removed the trigger bar spring."

"Oh, that sounds like something you would do. You guys really do have a lot in common, don't ya?" We stopped walking and faced each other.

"Look, Dawn. I know you're enjoying this, but now's not the time to say I told you so."

"This isn't like you, Michael."

"I know. Dawnna, I need your help."

"Oh. You're not going to do this one on your own?"

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" He started to walk back to Sam and Fiona.

"Sadly no." I said, falling into pace beside him.

"Take Black back to the loft, lock him down tight. You can handle that, right?"

"Have I ever let you down?"

"Be careful, Dawn."

"Don't worry, Michael. I never let my guard down." I got into Black's car and drove to the loft.

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"If she knows all this about you, she'll probably come here." Black said.

"She won't play this out on my turf." Michael said. "She'll keep the pressure on until she gets an opening."

"I—I can't believe this. I'm a C.P.A., for Christ's sake."

"C.P.A. brought down Al Capone." Sam said. "There's a reason why the feds want you to testify.

"I say we hunt her down." Fiona said who sat in a chair, arms wrapped around her knees, shotgun in hand. I laid at her feet.

"Ammunition's cheap." I added.

"Dawn, if we go out there without a plan, we're exposed." Michael said. "She's more than happy to keep killing people until we hand Black over."

"She can come after me. I'm ready."

"Yeah? What about Sam?"

"I'm game, Mike." Sam said.

"What about if she comes after my mom, my brother, Black's son, Bronzor?" I lifted my head from my paws and gave Michael a hard stare with my sapphire blue eyes.

"So we sit here and wait?" I asked.

"For once, she's right, Mike." Sam said. "We gotta do somethin'."

"We're gonna hand him over to the U.S. attorney, get him into Witness Protection." Michael said.

"Won't she still come after you?" Black asked.

"We'll deal with that later. Sam, I need you to call U.S. attorney. Tell them we're bringing Black in the morning."

"I'm on it." Sam said.

"And, uh, somebody needs to go to my mom, see that she's safe, make her house secure."

"Think she cooked dinner yet?"

"I'm sure she'll heat something up for you, Sam."

"Well, then I'm on that too." Sam got up and left.

"Fiona, I need you to prep an armed escort." She got up and left too. "Black, I need you… to stay away from the windows."

"What about me?" I asked, climbing to my paws. "I just get to stand around and do nothing?"

"Sam and Fiona are already taking care of everything."

"I could have gone over to Madeline's."

"Sam gladly took the job. Plus, I could use some backup here if Velvet decides to change the rules." I rose my head high and puffed out my chest.

"You don't think I can take care of myself."

"That's not true, Dawn. I didn't say that. I know you can." His heart skipped a beat.

"Like I said before, Michael, you're a terrible liar for a professional liar." I stormed out onto the balcony and curled up into a ball.

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"Black is sleeping peacefully." I said as I sat down beside Michael in the darkness.

"You gave him something." Michael said as he cleaned his guns and fixed his trigger bar spring.

"Maybe." I held out my left hand, palm face up and Michael gave a look. "Well, half of something." Flames ignited in my hand, giving Michael light.

"Sam got in touch with his buddy at the U.S. attorney's. Bringing Black in the morning."

"Great. We can talk finally." I molded the flames into a ball.

"There's nothing to talk about. You were right, I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"It isn't that simple, Michael. You think you can let the job be who you are, all you are and you can't. It's dangerous to think you can. I know I can be… passionate, but I'm good at what I do." I divided the fire into five.

"I know."

"It's no secret that things between us have been—" The flames rolled to my fingertips.

"Little rocky."

"It isn't easy for me either. Velvet comes along, and she's attractive, sweet, needy. Don't deny it." My middle flame went out.

"Fine."

"Isn't it interesting that she turned out to be, well, who she turned out to be? What shall we make of that?"

"You made your point, Dawn."

"Did I?" My pinkie flame went out.

"Yep, you did?"

"What about D.C.? You still going?"

"I have to. If I don't it won't be long before Cowan sends someone else to kill me. I need him to know I can get to him too. I need him to know right now."

"And you need help. And you know it." Thumb flame was extinguished.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Is that a tactical judgment or a personal one?" Ring finger went out.

"Both. Everybody I know is in danger right now—everyone I'm close to."

"Well, I'm willing to risk it… if you are." My index finger went out and we were left in the darkness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO

"How's my mom?" Michael asked Sam as they loaded up guns.

"Locked up cozy and tight with a cigarette and shotgun, ready to kill anything that comes through the door." Sam answered. "Here you go, Black." He pulled out a bullet proof vest. "My lucky vest."

"Thanks." Black said.

"It's a little worn, but it'll do the trick."

"Are these bullet holes?"

"Yeah, I broke it in for you."

"It's a short ride to the U.S. attorney's office." Michael said.

"Just think of it like a precaution. It's like a seat belt."

"Yeah. A seatbelt that smells like Old Spice and bourbon." Fiona said.

"Easy now."

"We should get out of here." I said, grabbing my bow and quiver. I threw the quiver over my back and pulled out an arrow to put it in my bow.

"Michael, whatever happens, I just wanted to say thank you." Black said.

"You can think me by keeping your head down… and staying away from windows, got it?" Michael asked.

"Got it." We got into the cars and drove to the office. Fiona dropped Michael and me at a corner a block away. He led me into a building and up to the rooftop. On top, Velvet was in the corner with a sniper, pointing it at Black. Michael pointed his gun at her and I raised my bow and pulled back the arrow.

"Drop it." I said.

"You set me up." Velvet said, keeping her eye on Black. "Bravo."

"Put it down, Velvet."

"Hey. I could still do this. Did I tell you how much this job pays? You could buy someplace decent to live—even in Miami prices."

"Put the rifle down." She pulled her rifle back.

"How'd you know I'd be here?"

"I figured you had a source in the U.S. attorney." Michael said. "You knew Black was thinking about testifying."

"Now, I count six different vantage points with a better view of that entrance. How'd you know I'd be at this one?" Michael slowly began to walk towards. I stayed where I was, covering him.

"Istanbul wasn't that long ago. You like rooftops over windows, you like angles with the target on your right hand side 'cause you're left handed."

"That's right. I knew I like you." Michael tossed a cable tie to her.

"Put it on." She did as she was told and sat on the railing of the rooftop.

"Michael, is this what you really want? Helping out civilians with their problems, and trying to get your government job back? It's pathetic. You're better than that." Michael lowered his gun but the point of my arrow never left her left eye as she moved her head.

"Let's go, we have a big day ahead of us. I gotta turn you in. There'll be questions. It'll be past lunch before we're done. And Dawnna here gets cranky if she doesn't have lunch at noon."

"Turn me in? A lot of secrets, a lot of enemies. Think it'd be a short stay, don't you? Now, don't you think we could come to some arrangement?"

"I don't think so."

"Now be honest with me. If circumstances were different, do you think that we could—"

"Not in this lifetime."

"Perhaps the next one." She fell backwards and screams sounded below as I heard bones shattered on the ground. I lowered my bow and put my arrow back into my quiver.

"Come on, Michael." I called to him. He stood there, back to me. "Michael, there's nothing you could have done. She wanted to die."

"Could you be anymore mean on this case?" Michael asked me, turning around.

"Look, I didn't say that because I'm jealous of her and it seemed like you paid more attention to her than you ever did to me. I said that because it's the truth. There was nothing you could have done. Now, let's go before security comes." I turned and stormed back down the steps, not looking behind me to see if Michael was following.


	15. Chapter 15

"What do you think he wants?" Sam asked Michael.

"Think he wants to meet." Michael answered.

"So why not just meet?" Fiona asked.

"He doesn't trust me. Fair enough. I don't trust him. He knows my entire career—falsified a good bit of it. It shouldn't be too difficult for him to figure out a way to talk to me."

"Ah, the mating dance of a spy." I said. "It's a wonder spies ever get close enough to kill each other, isn't it?"

"Oh, gotta go." Sam said, checking his phone.

"Veronica has you on a pretty tight leash, huh?" Fiona asked.

"Hardy-har. I'm meeting with a prospective client. Mike, buddy, you call me if you need anything. Fiona, you just keep blowing things up. Dawnna, just keep doing whatever it is you do."

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I walked towards Sam who was eating alone at a table. He stood up and awkwardly hugged me before I sat down.

"Well, Dawnna." He greeted me. "Hey, how you doing? Thanks for coming. Wow, you look great." I looked at myself. It was just my daily t-shirt and jeans. Sam sighed.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of this invitation? Am I your new drinking buddy?" I asked, grabbing his beer and taking a sip.

"Ah—" Sam chuckled. "Yeah. Uh, it's this job that I'm on—I need some backup. And Mike's mind is pretty much on this whole Cowan business. So I thought—"

"Of me."

"I thought of you. Yes, that's what I thought." Sam chuckled.

"What's the job?"

"Well, it's a blackmail thing. And one of the victims got spooked, so she's not saying where she met the guy. She met him out at a bar, and I have an approximate date." I waited for him to give me more but he didn't.

"That's not much to go on."

"I got a guy who's pulling her credit card statement. Find the charge, find the bar, find the guy."

"And you need a wingman."

"Damn straight, skippy."

"My fee is five hundred up front, expenses, and an hourly as we go."

"You never charge Mike."

"Oh, I expect other things from Michael."

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Sam and I stood in the club, looking around.

"So this is where Emolga met her boyfriend." I sighed.

"Seems a little unlikely. But she definitely paid for drinks here. How do you want to handle this?"

"Well, I think that balls are in your court."

"Oh, great. What the hell am I paying you for?" He walked to go talk to the bartender and I took a seat at a table. He came back to me a few minutes later.

"So, how did we do?"

"Well, uh, my new friends have informed me… that the mysterious Fox is actually a hustler named Jagged Tooth."

"So he was just stepping up to the exciting world of blackmail and smack dealing."

"Yeah. I guess he's broken a few hearts and lifted a few wallets here. But I have his address."

"You know, Sam, I have to say, were captivating over there." Sam chuckled.

"Well, a free drink is a free drink, baby. They liked the shirt."

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Sam and I walked up the walkway of the house and Sam knocked. Sam left to go around back and I stayed in front. I heard a grunt around back and I walked towards the back to see Sam standing over a guy with a two by four in his hand.

"Let's try that again." Sam said. "I'm Sam. Now you say, hi, I'm Jagged."

"What do you want?" Jagged asked. I sighed.

"We want you to find a new way to import your heroin." I said. Jagged stood up and towered over my twenty year old body.

"I seriously don't know what you're talking about."

"Millie Flower, Emolga Fur—" Sam tried to refresh Jagged's mind. "You're gonna leave them alone."

"Her? I never messed with her. We went on a couple dates. All she ever wanted to do was take pictures of some building. Hundred bucks for a shot."

"She took the pictures?"

"Yeah, and her husband paid. Some guy—flattop. It was weird. I didn't ask questions." I sighed. Sam dropped the board and we began to walk away.

"Emolga lied to us."

"I knew it." I said.

"You did not."

"I suspected."

"Suspected doesn't count. We gotta talk to Mike."

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"If she was setting me up, why would she be in the photos?" Millie asked. "Why not just steal the files?"

"Well, she's the only one who could get the packages out." Sam said, chuckling. If Emolga wasn't being _blackmailed _you'd know that she was in it."

"Oh, my god. I-I can't believe I fell for this."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Double blackmail's a classic. It's as old as the pyramids, you know. You pose as a fellow target of your own blackmail scheme. That way, you'll always know what the victims are up to. Pros use it all the time."

"So what do we do?"

"We got to get near Rat. If we can get some evidence linking him to the heroin, we can do our own blackmail, get you off the hook. You know, start fighting fire with fire."

"But Emolga knows I hired you."

"We'll have to make her think that the investigation's stalled. Plus, we're gonna get some more help—a little relief from the bullpen."

"Well, do whatever you need to do. I'll pay more. I'll dip into my savings."

"Don't worry about the money, Millie." I said. "We gotcha covered."

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I licked my lips as the cookie 'n' cream ice cream melted in my mouth. I slipped another mouthful in my mouth as Sam bugged a phone.

"Dawn, give me that little tweezer up on the dash, will you?" Sam asked. I ignored him and licked my spoon clean before dipping it back down in the sea of sugar. He reached up and grabbed the tweezers. "That's alright, I got it. Thanks." I looked at the phone in his hand as he slipped the bug into the back of the phone.

"You about done there?" I asked. "He usually goes out for a run between seven and eight."

"Well, I hoping for seven. As much fun as it is hanging out with you, this little stakeout's costing me a fortune. Can't you at least cut your hourly? I bought the snacks."

"I'll reimburse you for the snacks." He handed me the phone and I took it. He looked at the window.

"Oh, yeah. There we are." I looked too to see Rat come running down the sidewalk. "Ok, let's make this count." I got out of the car and went behind the house while Sam got out to distract Emolga. I walked up the back way and turned the knob of the door. Locked. Damn it. I learned how to conjure up fire or repair things or torture someone but I never put thought into learning how to pick a lock.

"Unlock." Knob still locked. Damn it! Well, there's only one option left. I grabbed the door knob and jammed my right shoulder into the door, opening it. I stopped and listen to see if Emolga heard me. Nope. I continued into the house and walked into the kitchen. I spotted the cell phone. I quickly walked over to it and switched the sim cards in the phone and quickly walked back out the door.

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Fiona, Sam, Michael, Millie and I were at Michael's loft where Michael and Sam told us about the gun fight between them and Rat.

"A minute after your deal went sour, Rat and Emolga were on the phone." I said and I played the tape.

"Son of a bitch had backup." Rat said angrily over the tape. Someone put three slugs in my engine."

"How much does he know?" Emolga asked.

"Too much. We need to shut this down."

"Can't. Not yet. There's another package in lockup." Rat sighed.

"Have her get it out, and I'll clean up this mess. Can't let them know we got sloppy." I stopped the recorder.

"Rat's running scared." Fiona said. "Makes things complicated for us."

"Was he talking about me when he said clean up this mess?" Millie asked.

"Yeah. That's what our little dance at the construction site was all about." Sam said. "Mike was their first clean up project."

"I am so sorry. Rat—"

"Busted my window shield." Michael said. "I'll just repair it, again."

"He tried to kill you."

"Happens all the time." My stormy gray eyes looked at him. "Don't worry about it, especially with the part time help on easy jobs."

"The problem is, we don't have enough evidence to use against him." I said.

"So what do I do now?" Millie asked. We all looked at Michael.

"You could run." Michael suggested. "Rat might not find you. But you'd have to stay on the move for five, ten years."

"Plus, he still has all the blackmail material, so he can still take you down." Sam said. "But if you help Emolga get the package out of S.X.G—"

"You want me to do it again?" Millie asked.

"I know you're afraid. But I'm gonna be outside the whole time watching. Once Rat has the heroin, we can use it against him."

"You need to trust us." Fiona said.

"Okay." Mille agreed.

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I jumped to the hood of Sam's Cattilac as Fiona and Michael got out of the charger in climbed into the Cattilac. Fiona was listening to Rat and Emolga and apparently they rigged Millie's car to explode. Sam was parked outside the fence of S.X.G. I stared in through the window shield.

"Miss me?" Sam asked.

"Oh, yeah." Michael answered, sarcastically.

"Rat wired Millie's car to blow." I said.

"Jesus." Sam breathed. "Well, that's why he's watching then. The white van, ten o'clock." I looked and saw it.

"We have to warn her when she comes out." Fiona said.

"You think Rat's going to sit there on the sidelines for that?"

"Great, Sam. So we sit here and we do nothing and she winds up dead." I growled.

"That's not what I meant."

"Guys. Guys." Michael calmed the situation down. "Which one's her car?"

"It's the black jeep over there."

"Sam, Fiona, keep the guard busy. I'm borrowing your floor mat. Dawnna, come with me." Michael got out of the car and I jumped off and followed him to the fence. Michael climbed the fence, put the floor mat on the barbed wire and flipped over, landing quietly on the other side. I took a couple paces back and ran forward, leaping, hooking my hind paws in the fence and giving me the final boost over the fence, landing beside Michael. We jogged to the jeep and crouched down beside it. Michael tried to slide underneath the car but couldn't. I shifted and pushed him aside, sliding under the car with ease. I raised my hand and felt my way through the pipes of the car. "It would be like clay with wires." I stopped and looked to the left at him with a "duh" look.

"Michael, I've lived with Fiona my entire. You would think that I would know what C4 looks like, right?" I turned back to the car.

"Dawn, hurry up, she just left the building."

"Michael, shut up." My fingers felt something small and rubber.

"Come on."

"Michael," I followed the wire and strained to reach the end of it.

"Dawnna,"

"Michael," The car chirped and my heart raced as my fingers wrapped around something soft and I pulled at it just as the car started. I sighed with Michael and the car pulled away.

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"They really tried to kill me?" Millie asked, the next day at Michael's loft.

"I'm afraid so." Sam said.

"With that, under my car?"

"Well, yeah, it's a car bomb." Michael said.

"This may be hard to get your head around but this is a good thing. They're scared of you. That's why they put this little toy next to your engine block." Sam said.

"Scared of me?" Millie questioned him.

"They're afraid of a lot of people, police, the people they work for." Michael said.

"And now they've got a box of heroin they have to get rid of." I said.

"So what should I do now?" Millie asked.

"Take a vacation." Sam suggested. "By the time you come back, we'll have your problem sorted out. New Hampshire's nice."

"Vermont." Michael added.

"Okay, and what will you do?" Millie asked.

"Rat and Emolga are going to have a little well documented transaction going on—a buy. Uh, we're going to take that evidence, got to Rat, get him to shut down his little operation and have him back off."

"Thank you. I-I can't believe you did this for me."

"Well, we haven't done it yet." Sam said. "Why don't you go, um, make your arrangements?"

"Okay." Millie turned and left.

"This deal—this timing—" Michael began.

"I know, Mike." Sam said. "You got this who Cowan thing. It's good. We're covered. You're okay. Don't sweat it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. We're just taking pictures. You're the one who needs backup."

"No, I'm doing this alone."

"Okay, I get it. Good luck." Sam left too.

"I'm going to make sure Millie has everything." Fiona abandoned me too. Michael looked at me.

"Don't look at me." I said. "I don't get it." Michael stared at me harder. "I don't get why you're so dead set to get back in. Why go back to work for the people who've put you through all of this?"

"I want to clear my name." Michael said. "I want to know who did this to me. I spent my entire career doing something I believed in, Dawn. Something important."

"You're doing something important here, Michael. Think about it. Next time you're risking you life to talk to this Philip Cowan fellow, you think about it." I turned and opened the door to the loft.

"Dawn." I closed the door.

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"All right, that's where Rat's little meet is going down." Sam said, pointing to the warehouse down beside the river. "I'm gonna take the car down there on the opposite side, use the telephoto lens on the camera so we get something."

"Ok, no rush. I'm on the clock." I said. "I'm gonna work on my tan."

"I want a flat rate next time."

"Mm-hmm." Sam got into the car and drove away. I leaned against the railing and stared down at the warehouse as a car approached it. I put an earpiece in my right ear and turned on the microphone, pointing it to the warehouse. Rat and Emolga got out of the car.

"You sure you told them three o'clock." Rat asked Emolga.

"Yes." Emolga said. She leaned against the car as Rat began to pace. "Please calm down."

"They were suppose to be here twenty minutes ago. Something's wrong."

"I'm sure they're on their way."

"Maybe the boss was right. Maybe we're compromised."

"Rat, you told them?"

"Emolga, yes. These are very serious people. They would kill us if they thought anything was wrong. It's better to hear it from us. Better to hear it from me." Rat pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing now?"

"I'm calling the buyer. He's got five minutes. Come on get in the car."

"What?"

"Come on!"

"What? What is it?"

"Go! Just get in the car. Hurry up." They climbed back into the car. A missile came across the river and shot the car. The explosion erupted in my ear, vibrating my eardrum to pain. I pulled the earpiece out and threw the equipment down on the ground. I looked across the river and saw some men pulling Sam out of his car and dragging him away. I looked to the left and saw two men with guns running at me. I began to run away from them, shifting as I went. I skidded to a halt as another man with a gun came running at me. I turned and see the other two men closing in on me. I leapt onto the railing and jumped. The water coated me, slicking my fur back, dragging me under. I struggled to the bank and pulled myself out. I shifted and ran under the bridge to the payphone. I scooped out the change in my pocket and pushed them in. I punched Michael's number in.

"Michael—" I spoke with a fear in my voice.

"Dawn, can I call you back?" Michael asked.

"Michael, Rat and Emolga's deal went bad. They're dean. And Sam—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Slow down, Dawn. Slow down."

"Rat's boss is cleaning house, I think. They were watching us. They took Sam."

"Who did?"

"I don't know. Whoever they are, they're damn good."

"Where are you, Dawn?"

"I can't talk." I looked around and sighed. "I'm in the warehouse district by the Starling Path bridge." Tires squealed to the left of me. "They're coming." I shifted and ran to the warehouse.


	16. Chapter 16

I looped my white with the fake rubies collar over the edge of the window and climbed back down. I pulled out my plain blue collar out of my pocket and tied it around my neck. I hope that the collar was a clear signal to Michael. I heard men talking outside and I hid behind some shelves. As I buried my head between my legs, a crashing sound came from the front of the warehouse. I climbed to my feet and peered around the corner to see a red pickup truck with Michael and Nate in it. I ran to it and as I passing the driver side, Michael leaned out the window and handed me my bow and quiver. I grabbed them from him and nicked an arrow in my bow and shot out the hole. I grabbed three more arrows and fired them all.

"Dawn?" Michael called to me.

"Through there." I told him, indicating that there were supplies to make a weapon.

"You cover that door, you don't let anyone through." I followed Michael. "Hurry up."

"You should have picked up Fiona, she loves machine shops. Now what do you need?"

"Polyester thermoset resin, benzoyl peroxide." I swung the quiver over my back and hooked my bow to my belt and went to the cabinet to gather up the stuff.

"Guys, you want to hurry it up, please?" Nate yelled from beside the truck. Michael prepared the bomb and I helped him carry the stuff to the back of the truck. "Hurry up, I got them pinned down." Michael started the truck and put it in neutral. We went to the front of the truck and pushed it out the hole. We headed to the back and Michael got a crowbar and broke the bars off the window. I climbed through, Nate behind me and Michael behind him.

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"That was insane." Nate said as he pulled up to a house and we got out. "Those people were heroin smugglers?"

"Sam had a job. Things didn't go as planned."Michael said.

"You're out of your mind." We walked up the steps.

"What happened with Cowan?" I asked, looking at the blood on Michael's suit.

"Yeah, things didn't go as planned with that either." Michael sighed. "He's dead, Dawn. They shot him while we were talking."

"Did you get anything?"

"A little. He said the people he works for—they have plans for me."

"Yeah, well, that's intriguing. What the hell does that mean?"

"Without knowing who they are, hard to say. They might want information. They might have a job they want me to do. I mean, they shot him for a reason. It better be a good reason." We walked into the house and I closed the door. I turned and saw trash bags on windows and boards everywhere. No furniture, nothing. "This is your place?"

"Yeah." Nate said. "Well, it's a foreclosure. You know, I guess they ran out of money in the remodel. Usually, I can hang out about three months in a place like this. You know, you blew up my truck."

"Anyone know you're here?" I asked.

"No, no. I got a couple clients in my golf club business. They weren't real happy with the way their investment worked out, so…"

"Nate, I need you to go get Mom and bring her here." Michael said.

"Seriously, come on, man. Once she starts smoking, we're never gonna get the smell out."

"The people who shot Cowan are probably watching her place. When you go get her, bring her here. Make sure you're not followed."

"I know how to lose a tail, all right? I hate to break it to you, but spies aren't the only people with enemies." Nate left and Michael went through his stuff looking for a clean blood free pair of clothes. I took the blue shirt from him and threw it down and picked up a black shirt and handed it to him.

"You don't look good in blue." I said. "Black's more your color."

"Tell me what happened to Sam." Michael said.

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I came through the door with a bag full of guns and a bag full of swords and knives. I set the guns on the ledge and heaved the swords up beside it. Michael looked at me.

"There's more stashed under a Fort Lauderdale overpass." I said. I pulled out the guns and lined them up.

"If we need more than this, we're doing something very wrong." Michael said.

"Or something very right." Michael's phone rang and he answered it.

"Hello?" I strained to listen to the other speaker.

"I've got someone who say he works for you—Sam." The man on the other line said.

"Yeah, he works for me."

"Oh, yeah. And what kind of work do you do?"

"My work?"

"Yeah, your work. What was your man doing down by the docks taking pictures?"

"I'm in the same business you're in. We're interested in your operation. I sent Sam down to do some research."

"Oh, yeah? That's not what Sam said."

"I don't train my employees to talk about my business. Listen to me, not to him. Who am I talking to?"

"Hmm. I think you know enough about me for now. So let me ask you a question. You thought what, you could just come down here and rip me off?"

"I'm just checking out the competition—you know, move to a new market, check out the lay of the land. Point is, the man you have is a valued employee. I want him back, I'm willing to deal."

"Let's set a meet. We'll figure out a price."

"I'm happy to negotiate, but I do not pay for damaged merchandise. I want proof of life."

"You got e-mail?" Michael began to mouth e-mail to me but I waved him off, indicating that I already heard.

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I gripped the lock and thought of the coldest place I've been in. Which wasn't very cold, so that made it harder. Goosebumps formed on my bare arms and I began to shiver violently as a thin layer of ice formed over the locked. I stepped back and Michael hit the lock with the hammer. We opened the door and walked into a boxes filled with papers.

"So this is Sam's storage locker." I said.

"We're looking for an old photo." Michael said. "It would be from the mid ninety's. When we were working together."

"You really think Sam is sending us a message?"

"He's trying to give us any information he can. It's the pose in the photo, Dawn. I've seen it before." Michael sighed and I looked to him to see him holding a photo album. I went over to him and looked into the album.

"What is it?"

"Sam led a hostage rescue operation in Venezuela for some U.S. businessmen. It was a setup. The hostage's were bait for Sam's team. He lost a few men. He's saying stay away. He's not getting out of this alive."

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"Well, it's not a perfect location," I said. "But it's not bad, either." I walked side by side with Michael as we walked down the sidewalk.

"Just need something nice and traceable—" Michael said. "A trail that the guys who killed Cowan can follow."

"Who are you gonna call?"

"My old handler." Michael walked up to a payphone and punched in some numbers while I leaned up against a car. "If they're not listening to his line, then they don't deserve to catch me. Hi, yes, Dan Siebels, please. This is Michael Westen. I need to talk to him. It's urgent. I have government agents following me. I'm not sure what agency they are, but I need help. Could you send a helicopter—Okay, good talking to you too." He hung up and I couldn't help but smiled.

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I stood beside Michael, leaning on my elbows on the edge of car garage. My weight was slightly being supported by Michael and he didn't seem to mind it. We peered down at the street below, to the payphone that Michael was just at. A man in a black suit looked around and went to another man at the corner and stared at the payphone.

"Nice response time—" Michael said. "Ten minutes. They're good."

"They're not the good." I said. "They're staring at a payphone." Tires of a black SUV screeched as they turned into the garage.

"Oh, no, Dawn, they are that good. Those guys are just to keep us busy. They know we're here." We pushed off and turned to head out the garage. We exited into an alley and a black car cut us off. I unhooked my bow from my belt and pulled an arrow from my quiver. "Tires." I fired and the arrow bounced. I fired two more only to get the same result as the first arrow.

"It's armored."

"I'll see you back at Nate's." I reattached my bow and shifted, running off away from Michael.

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"Yeah, you got a price?" Michael asked over the phone as I walked out of the house to his side by the pool. I perked my ears and listened in.

"We'll get to that." The man said. "First, I want to meet you and the shifter—together." Michael walked away from me and I crossed my arms across my chest and sighed, fore I couldn't hear the man anymore.

"The shifter…She has nothing to do with this…Fine, but it's gonna take a couple of days to track her down…After what had happened, she went underground. If you want to see her, you're gonna have to wait for me to find her…Just so we're clear, I don't take damaged goods. You break it, you buy it, got it?" Michael hung up and walked back to me.

"I take it you just brought us some more time." I said.

"It won't do us much good if we can't find out who this guy is. All we know now is he's got Sam and he intends to kill us." We began to head back to the house.

"Any ideas?"

"Well, it's a pretty small world when you're importing heroin at the level. I'll make a call."

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We sat in the charger and stared at the boat were men paced the deck.

"Oh, look, they survived Nate's exploding truck." Michael said.

"Think they're keeping Sam here?" I asked.

"Fits the background on Sam's photo—lots of rusted metal, and they've probably got him down in the hold."

"Makes sense, a barge—it's isolated, easy to defend." Michael sighed.

"Guess it's time to set up a meeting with Haxorus." Michael pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"We could go in there now."

"No, Dawn. We're gonna do this the right way."

"Boring."

"Yeah?" A man said on the other line.

"I'm ready to make a deal." Michael said.

"All right. Let's set it up."

"I can meet today."

"The shifter coming?"

"Yeah. I tracked her down."

"Fine. Four o'clock. Be at the Ivy Paw Harbor Marina."

"Sounds good. One more thing—I talk to Sam before I come to the meeting. If he can't talk, if he doesn't sound healthy, I walk away. If he's anything less than a hundred percent, just kill him now and save us both some time."

"We'll take good care of him."

"You do that." Michael hung up and started the car and drove away.

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Michael placed some C4 attached to a cellphone into a plastic container and popped a lid on it.

"You probably need a moderate sized blast." I said. "The metal on that boat looked pretty worn. I'd go with something with more direction." I opened my palm and let orange and red lick my fingers. Michael looked at me with disapproval in his pale green eyes and I slapped my hand closed and smiled. "But it will do." He grabbed a pole and began to twist on a cylinder wood. I leaned on my elbow, placing my chin in my palm and watched him. His eyes caught mine and my foggy gray eyes cleared with happiness. He placed the plastic container on top of the cylinder and I used to cable ties to hold it down. I placed a mop head over the container and cable tied that to the pole. He slapped on some sticky stuff that only Fiona knows where it comes from and I wrapped the mop head in plastic wrap. Michael took the pole from me and tightened the wrap, our eyes locking onto each other's, not wanting to break the connection.

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"You think it's okay to take Sam's car on the street?" I asked Michael as we carried things out to the Cattilac. "Those government type…"

"I bought myself a couple of hours before they pick me up. Might as well drive it till then."

"You're really gonna go with them?"

"Yeah, Dawn."

"They shot Cowan in front of you." Michael opened up the trunk and threw in his stuff.

"They didn't shoot me. I want to know, what's going on, and I told them I would meet them."

"You're a spy, Michael. Why don't you just lie? That's what spies do, you know?" I threw my stuff into the trunk. "You want to run—"

"This is not about honor, and I'm not running anymore. I want answers, and this is the only way to find them." He closed the trunk. Michael sighed. "You ready?" We both leaned against the car and stared at each other. The sun beat down on him, showing every inch of his flawless skin. His tight black shirt matching his thick black hair, his eyes standing out.

"It's been fun, Michael." He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine. Just as I remember what a handsome, attractive, smart, loving, good in bed guy he was, I remember that once he got his old job back, he was going to leave me again. Sorrow took my heart as a hostage again. "At least this time we get to say goodbye." I rocked on my heels and bit my lower lip, debating with myself. I stood up my toes and pecked a kiss on his right cheek, his warmth becoming mine. I wanted more but I knew I couldn't. I rocked back onto my heels as he caressed my cheek with his left hand. I felt my heart struggling against Sorrow.

"Thank you, Dawn." He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. His tongue swirled the inside of my mouth and I felt like I was in heaven. He tried to pull away but I wanted more. The desire was too much. I _needed _more. I began to kiss back, the heart fighting harder and my stomach doing flips. My hands began to burn like barefeet on hot sand and I knew what I had to do. I pulled away and settled back down on my feet, my heart sinking back to darkness. Michael turned and climbed into the driver's seat. Blue flames erupted from my hands for the first time from the desire within me. I wanted him so bad. I couldn't hold it. That kiss gave me so much love. I needed more. But I couldn't. I couldn't allow myself to get close to him again and have him leave again. I balled my fists up and the flames went out. I couldn't. Just couldn't.

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I climbed up onto a rooftop and peered down at the boat. One man, two men, three men. I dialed Michael's number.

"Looks like they're leaving a three man team." I updated him.

"I'm off to crash the party." Michael said and hung up. A few minutes passed and a gun shot fired from inside the boat. The three started to head for the door but I nicked an arrow in my bow and fired at the door to warn them off. I kept firing arrow after arrow, making sure that I kept the men on deck but spacing my fires evenly. I looked down at my quiver and saw that I had five arrows left.

"Come on, Michael." I fired the last five arrows and pulled out my phone to dial the bomb's number. Sam and Michael came running out of the boat and down the ramp and just as Michael stepped on solid ground, I pressed send on the phone and it was like the fourth of July all over again.

THE END


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